Persistence of Memory: Entering the Dark
by The Queen of Plot Twists
Summary: Having defeated Pegasus, Yami starts a new life with Yugi, but someone will not let him forget his enigmatic past. Bakura will stop at nothing to bring his history with the Pharoah to its conclusion. Yugi finds his heart torn in ways he never imagines and a new player has entered the Game with plans for Yugi and Yami Part 2 of the Intertwined Series: Dark Libra Cannon Divergent
1. Mind and Memory

Part Two of the Intertwined Series!

This will be an anthology series consisting of one-shots taking place during off-screen events that will follow the plot and also totally change the story. This takes place after Yami and Yuugi's duel with Pegasus in the manga where Pegasus explained his origin and the rest of the gain waits with Mokuba before helping him reunite with Kaiba before Bakura goes off to "face" Pegasus Warning: Minor angst in the beginning, lots of blood, and Bakura being a psychopath and Marik anger issues. Other than that enjoy!

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

* * *

PART 1

Entering the Dark

* * *

Mind and Memory

The Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle stared out over the sea, Pegasus' words still haunting his mind.

_The mystery only grows deeper._ He thought to himself, a slight shiver as he recalled the grim details of Pegasus' story. Shadi. Pegasus, the seven millennium items, not just the puzzle or the ring or the eye but seven total, the tablet of the pharaoh's memories. Kul Elena village...why did it all sound so familiar? Was it all connected? How so? And what did it have to do with him? Was that why he didn't remember?

He clenched the puzzle so tightly its jagged, golden edges dug into his palm.

_Evil intelligence_, that's what Pegasus had called it. Another presence living inside the millennium puzzle and inhabiting the body of an innocent boy.

_Where did I come from? _The question burned in his mind. Was he really just a spirit? Another mind living in the puzzle? Was he even alive? Or was he just a soul? A ghost? A parasite?

_Who am I?_

_Evil Intelligence._ Those wicked words came again. Evil. Evil. _Evil. _

_You are not evil! _

The Spirit shot up at the indignant protest and whirled about grateful he was on the balcony and out of earshot of his friends. Yugi stood there incorporeally, arms crossed and face pulled into a defiant pout. _You are not evil, Spirit, I don't care what Pegasus or Shadi or anyone else says. _

_How do you know?_ He asked sadly. The Spirit could almost be proud of him for it, Yugi had grown so much from the shy, timid boy he'd first met, but he wasn't vain enough to believe it was because of him.

_Of course, it's because of you!_ Yugi said, his voice muffled like he was about to cry. _You're not evil, Spirit, I don't care what Pegasus or Shadi or anyone else says. You're my friend. I'm stronger now _because _of _you!

Yugi squeezed his hand and its warmth surprised him.

_But_…the Spirit paused, uncertain. _How can you be sure…_he opened his mind to Yugi replaying past memories of his origins. Darker days when he used to dish out punishments to all those who wronged them: Ushio, Ms. Chono, Imori, how many others whose names he hadn't bothered to remember, even Kaiba.

_They were different, Spirit. They were all cruel and selfish. They didn't care about anyone but themselves. You gave them a chance and they refused to learn from their mistakes…but Kaiba did. You saw for yourself._

He gestured to the two brothers, hugging and smiling. _That's the real reason why you didn't want to subject Pegasus to a shadow game isn't it? It wasn't because you were afraid of proving him right, it's because despite everything he did, he was doing it for someone he loved. That doesn't excuse what he did…but you understand why he was willing to do all this, why he was willing to take such risks._

_Yes," _the Spirit smiled. It was a small, sad smile, but a smile nonetheless. _When did you become so wise, abiou?_

Even incorporeally Yugi blushed and it was a cute, apple-cheeked blush that accompanied a sweet smile that stole the Spirit's heart. _I guess I had a really good friend to teach me._

The spirit chucked. Their eyes fell back to their friends: Tristan laughing, Joey bickering, Tea rolling her eyes, Seto and Mokuba still hugging each other.

_Other me, it doesn't matter where you come from._

The Spirit looked surprised, but Yugi's smile was honest and not a flicker of doubt clouded his eyes. _What matters is that I'm glad you're here. You mean a lot to me…and they feel the same way. _He turned back to their friends who were still bickering.

The Spirit watched them and a sudden nostalgia overcame him: he had friends, people how cared for him, he had Yugi. A smile curled across his lips, a true smile.

Yugi squeezed hid hand again, his own delight radiating off the Spirit's. _And I still don't know your name?_

_Well, since I don't remember having one, why don't you call me…_he thought of a name, then decided. _Yami._

_Well, Yami, I'm happy to call you my friend._ With one last high five, the Spirit, now called Yami relinquished control back to Yugi. As he faded back into the calming, familiar darkness of the puzzle's labyrinth, he thought, _Yugi's right, it doesn't matter who I am or where I come from. I'm happy with the way things are. I don't need my memory._

X X X

Bakura licked the blood from the Millennium Eye with an evil cackle.

"You can take this replica with you to hell, Pegasus," he mocked the man lying in a heap on the floor, blood pooling from his now empty left eye socket. "Two down, seven to go! Mwahahahahahaha!"

"We're not…so different…you and I…."

Bakura's laugher died in this throat and he whirled. "You're still alive?" he snickered. "I admit, I'm impressed, though I doubt you will be for long."

"You can fool yourself, Bakura…spirit…whatever you are…but you can't fool me." The man's words were a chocked rasp, as if every word scraped his throat. "I recognized it…your ring…it was the one that man stole the day I met Shadi…I felt its presence that day, and yet Shadi had _me _test the _Eye_…he knew. That was _you_ wasn't it. _You_ calling out to those thieves…desperate for some way to escape him…to escape Shadi….and now…I know why…"

Bakura stilled, his expression hardening into a natural glare.

"You're right…my mind is weak from my duel with Yugi and the Puzzle's Spirit…but I was still able to see into yours…"

Bakura's face betrayed no emotion, but his fingers clenched at his side.

"_He _doesn't remember…but _you _do…_You _remember…you needed to be certain. Certain that it _was him _inside the Puzzle."

Bakura said nothing, refused, to give him the satisfaction.

Pegasus had the gall to smile. "You can't trust anyone else to get him back, not even your host, because everyone else has failed…everything you've ever done, everyone you've ever hurt or used, your host, even me, were all just pawns in your scheme to get _him_ back…" The man chuckled with a confidence only a dying man who had nothing left to loose could have.

It infuriated him.

"How ironic….you're doing all this for _him, _and _he _has no idea who _you_ are, and after all this…I wonder if he'll even _want_ you—"

A swift strike across the jaw silenced the man before he could say another word. Bakura ceased him by the throat, quick as a cobra and held him by the neck, his grip tight and constricting as a snake. Even in his weakened state, Pegasus clung to life and his feeble hands scrapped pathetically at Bakura's grip.

Bakura grinned, snorted then laughed, a maniacal laugh.

It was just too funny! Did the bastard really think he was going to get out of this? Did he really think he was going to get the last word? Bakura laughed even harder, then fixed the man with a wild-eyed star, his eyes brightening at the look of pure fear and shock in the man's remaining eye.

Leaning close, Bakura whispered soft and secret as a lover, but with all the malice of a monster. "You're right. I don't give a shit about you or anyone or anything else if it means getting _him_ back," Bakura snickered, feeling the man tremble in his grip. "Though I confess, I am quite fond of my host, yes, he did betray me, but I can't help but respect him for that. And I _did _promise him I wouldn't hurt him or his friends, but I also confess to an ulterior motive. You see, to get what I want, I _need_ Yugi Mouto and Kaiba and perhaps to a lesser extent the rest of those fools."

A dark smirk curled at Bakura's lips reminiscent of a serpent about to devour a bird. "But if any of them should get in my way….well, like I said, _nothing _is going to stop me from getting _him _back…and if I have to set the whole world on fire to get him back, to restore that memory, well…" He squeezed the cowarding man closer, his smirked curling at the corners and he hissed the words like they were a sacred prayer. "Then I'll strike the first match."

With a final howl of laugher, Bakura tossed him to the floor, content to leave the worthless scum bleeding there, a fitting punishment for all he put him through, and strolled out of the castle juggling the Millennium Eye in his hand and laughing like a mad man, only relinquishing control to his none-the-wiser landlord once he reached the outside steps.

Catching a glimpse of the Spirit, just as they both returned control to their hosts, Bakura smirked. _Just a little longer, Pharaoh..._he thought, slipping back into the darkness, fingers clenching tightly around the one secret even Ryou wasn't even allowed to know. _Just you wait_.

X X X

"Master Marik."

He didn't bother to look up at the voice of his most loyal servant.

"What have you to report, Rishad?" he demanded, stroking the sharp axes of the Millennium Rod, the glided smoothly under his fingers as if harmless, but he knew all too well how deep and delicate they cut.

His servant hesitated, something he never did.

"We have received reports that Pegasus Crawford, the holder of the Millennium Eye had been defeated…" he hesitated again.

Now _that_ intrigued him.

Marik sat up, lifted his gaze from the Rod, waiting for Rishad to answer.

"By a boy named Yugi Mouto."

Marik's lavender eyes narrowed. His servant's face was shielded beneath the mask of his long hood, but Marik did not need his item to recognize the man's tells…the stiffness of his stance, the way his fingers rung.

"And what else Rishad?" he demanded, furious he even had to ask.

"This boy, Yugi Mouto…we are not yet certain, but if the rumors are true…"

"Yes," Marik hissed, his patience gone and the Rod held threateningly.

Rishad hesitated only a moment before answering. "He has solved the Millennium Puzzle…and now houses the Pharaoh's soul."

Rishad did not flinch when something crashed against the wall.

Marik stood shaking with fury, the Rod clenched so tightly, his knuckles went white.

"Track down this so called Pharaoh, Rishad." His every words was a malicious his drowned in anger and pure hate. "And report back to me."

"Yes, Master Marik." The man bowed and left leaving the leader of the Rare Hunters alone to seethe his rage.


	2. Lovestruck

ne was SO much fun to write!

Continuity note, this takes place right after Duelist Kingdom, so roughly around the same time as the last chapter but from Marik's perspective. Next chapter will see them all back at home in Domino :)

This was very loosely inspired by GoddessRougue's Libra doujinshi Malik's in Love on Deviantart, which resurrected my love of Librashipping (special thanks to her for coming up with the concept of Malik falling in love with Yugi at first sight!)

Shout out for my Girl Orochi-Dragon14 who got me hooked on Libra to begin with!

* * *

Lovestruck

For some, love is a feeling growing steadily over time. For others, it laps gently like low tide waves before it rolls in quickly. But for some, it comes like a light strike to the heart: quick, sudden, all-consuming and changing everything you thought you once knew—-at least that was how Marik felt when he first set his eyes upon Yugi.

* * *

Marik purposely waited until Rishad had left to gaze upon the Face of the man he was destined to kill. Ever the loyal servant and dutiful brother, he'd obeyed Marik's request for solitude unquestioningly and proceeded to carry out his wish. Pity, what he's found already was what Marik already knew...

_"Domino City, hm?" Marik asked without looking up. His gazed focused on the Rod's single, staring eye._

_"Yes." Rishad answered unemotionally. "It is not public knowledge yet but we have it on good authority that all the best duelists from the country will be gathered there for a tournament to be held by Seto Kaiba."_

_The man paused in a way only Marik noticed._

_"And what else, Rishad?" _

_Another pause then finally he answered. "We have also confirmed that Ishizu is already within the city. This...tournament...is her idea. She is planning on meeting with Kaiba just before the exhibit goes public in about a week's time"_

_"That's no surprise. This whole thing stinks of our sister's scheming." He snorted in disgust, memories of their last encounter as fresh in his mind as he was certain it was in hers. There was only one reason why she'd go to such lengths. Why she'd hide the third God when he already had two. Only _one_ person she would go against him for._

_"So it's true then." It wasn't a question. Anger, hate and absolute revulsion laced every single one of his words. "The Pharaoh has finally returned but the coward is possessing the body of a young man."_

_Rishad wisely said nothing._

_He didn't have to._

_Marik snorted again and do nothing to hide his disgust. "How predictable."_

The very Memory reviled him all over again.

Pulling his fingers away from the Rod's axe blade he faced the embedded Sennen eye sparklingly tempestuously in the flickering candlelight.

"Let's take a good look at who I'm up against," He informally addressing the Rod, which shone obediently, then demanded "Show me this so-called Pharaoh."

The rod obeyed with a dusky golden glow and the eyes of his puppet spy on Duelist Kingdom Island opened.

The boy who dared to call himself king still dominated the flesh he wore like an old coat. Marik probed deeper, digging through the fool's memories for more information. He saw duels between the false king and the fool Pegasus, against worms who called themselves champions and unscrupulous scum who were doubtless rotting in Amit's bowls for their arrogance.

To his immense disgruntlement the man was attractive, though he'd expect more from a being meant to be a living god.

A jacket covered his broad shoulders and corded arms but he boasted a slim torso, much less muscular than one would expect, though he carried himself well. His every step was sure-footed and confident. He stood tall and assertive giving him an air of dominance and control despite his demur height. His face was not that of a god's but it was nonetheless a face that could lead kingdoms, command armies and charm the throngs: a round face with sharp cheekbones and a strong chin, smooth as if chiseled from stone but the healthy glow gave its pale color a more innocent look like a poisonous plant seducing all with the flower of his smile. If it could be called a smile, it was more of a smirk—sharp, fearless, and arrogant. Even more intimidating than his smile were his eyes: Seth's eyes, the bright bold color of freshly spilt blood or a blazing fire. Fire suited him and then, Marik thought, his flaming eyes smoldered with it, the fits of temper he displayed when he enraged like a conflagration, the ethereal way he carried himself so much like a flame itself, dangerous but beautiful. Even his outrageous crown of black spikes dropped in crimson swayed and burned like a black blaze, above a golden forelock.

Regal, Marik thought bitterly. Even memory-less he radiated confidence and regality like a fallen god.

Marik hated him even more.

A strong duelist, as well. Marik thought with dull resentment, commanding his army of monsters with the skill and fearlessness of a seasoned commander. There was a sharpness to his eyes and smirk that spoke of strength and strategy. There was a bluntness, a confidence to his eyes that blazed with spunk rather than pride. But there was also a gentleness to him that softened his indomitable spirit and spoke of a kind-heart: he had the beasts' loyalty as well as their love.

Marik's eyes narrowed to a hateful glower. His kindness was a mask, a false face and he wore it as well as he wore the body he invaded like a parasite.

A parasite that knew nothing of pain or suffering.

A parasite that expected to be obeyed like all around him were obedient dogs.

A parasite that murdered his father in cold blood.

This_ is the one for whom my family spent _generations_ rotting away in the dark_.

Marik would never forgive him.

He _would_ defeat him.

He would defeat this _parasite_ who dared called himself king and become Pharaoh himself and finally free his family from the jaws of shadow and suffering!

Resolve strengthened, he commanded the rod, "Now show me the keeper of the millennium puzzle."

The image the rod showed swirled: sharp angles softened, bright reds darkened to purples and the fierce and fiery face of the pharaoh softened and smoothed to the cherubic face of the false King's vessel.

Marik's heart skipped a beat.

Then another.

Then another.

Then another until all but completely stopped.

Then suddenly it hammered so rapidly it could put a hummingbird's to shame.

His brain short circuited and his mind blanked of all but the dazzling creature before him.

Was he having a stroke?

He was the vision of a goddess: he was a petite thing with a slim, slender build and long arms that were reminiscent of a dancer with soft lily-white skin. The uniform he wore clung to his hips and chest revealing a slender build with small muscles and a _very_ lovely waist. And when he walked, he walked like a Queen: kind but confident, gentle but unyielding, delicate but determined.

For the briefest of moments Marik wondered what it would be like to have his arms around that waist. To have that slender chest flush against his, to have that lovely dancer's body pressed against his. To feel the softness of that lily-white skin.

Was it warm in this room?

He pulled down his hood, suddenly flushed.

He has the face of an angel, and oh what a lovely face it was! Round and cherubic with a small pointed chin and plump cheeks made for smiling and the whole thing curved into a heart when he smiled—Marik wanted to die when he saw that smile and settled for collapsing back in his chair instead.

Seriously had someone turned the heat up?

He started fanning himself, and tried to shift his heavy robe off.

Crowning that beautiful face, silky hair black as midnight dipped in magenta blazed in the same fiery shape as the false Pharaoh's but where the imposter's was all hard lines and sharpness, this young man's a was wild softness. His golden forelock curled cutely about that cherubic face like a diadem, the shadows of his smile hinted at something playful, and oh, how Marik wondered what it would've been like to run his fingers through it. To see if it really was as soft and silky as it looked.

But by far the most magnificent and mesmerizing of all were his eyes. They were the most beautiful thing Marik had ever seen: round and large as gemstones and just as violet. So big and expressive they radiated kindness and purity and their color—-their color, it was too simple to describe them as just purple, for they flickered in the light brightening and darkening with each emotion they expressed: a brilliant lapis lazuli blue with happiness, a mysterious purple like the last flicker of twilight, the deep, dark and penetrating violet of the night sky...

By Ra and all the Gods he could stare into those eyes for all eternity and never feel another negative emotion as long as he lived.

By Ra, he was an angel!

But who _was_ he?

He leaned in closer, commanding the Rod to look deeper until he could both see and hear the beautiful creature speaking to his companions.

And now, _now_ that Marik actually _heard_ that voice, he all but _died_ at what came out! Holy Baset, Lady of Love and Sexual Pleasure, that soft sweet voice was like a bell in Marik's ears. It was so kind and gentle and so...so...husky, that any who heard it would fall to their knees in worship of it!

True in that moment all Marik wanted to do was fall to his knees and prostrate himself in front of the boy and cry out at his majestic, regal beauty!

Who was this gorgeous creature? This sweet angel who has fallen from Ra's heavens for surely that's what he was no mere mortal human could possibly be so perfect, so sweet. So...so...cute.

He listened closely through the ears of his servant, hoping, begging, for his sweet angel's name. The strain would come back to bite him he knew, but he didn't care! In that moment no headache or pain could possibly be worse than the unbearable suffering of going another second without knowing the name of this precious, wonderful, lovable, adorable angel whose sweet smile and beautiful bright eyes made his heart do back flips.

Then he heard someone say the angel's name, and Marik heard music: the first note was a relaxed roll, the second, high and sweet.

Yugi.

Yugi.

_Yugi_.

He tested the name over and over on his tongue, loving how it tasted, how easily is rolled of it.

A breathtakingly beautiful name for a breathtakingly beautiful boy. Marik slumped back in his chair with a loud relaxed sigh. Oh God, why was his face so hot? Why was his heart beating so fast?

Was this...

Was he...

Could he possibly be...

"Master Marik?" Marik nearly jumped out of his seat when he heard Rishad.

Said man quirked an eyebrow at the strange reaction. It was odd seeing anything other than rage, hate or arrogance on Marik's face. This sudden, almost embarrassed surprise following what, had he not known better, sounded like a lovesick swoon was almost unheard of and was he...was Marik blushing?

"Rishad!" Marik sat up immediately but the command lacked the harshness and the greed it had before.

"In addition to your investigation into this so-called Pharaoh returning get me anything and everything you can find on a boy called Yugi Mouto!"

There was an unfamiliar brightness to Marik's eyes and the smile he now wore was neither a snarl nor a smirk. Again had Rishad not known better he would have called the look of curious enthusiasm joy?

"The vessel?" Rishad asked and grew even more concerned when Marik's entire expression shattered like a glass painting to one of horror and shock.

Marik skin around on his chair clutching the Rod and the image of Yugi it held like a lifeline.

Ra, Sekhmet and all the Gods above _this_ was Yugi Motou! This precious, wonderful, loveable, adorable angel blessed by Ra's heavenly light was the vessel of the pharaoh? The very pharaoh he was supposed to destroy?

"Gah! What's wrong with me!" Marik shook his head in horror. "Oh God why can't my heart stop beating!?"

"Master Marik?" He _heard_ rather than saw Rishad's inability to fathom what his younger brother was doing. Oh Amut, swallow him while had he just said that out loud?

He shook his head it didn't matter if this boy was the vessel. No, the pharaoh was a parasite he reminded himself unworthy of this this precious, wonderful, lovable, adorable angel who was a gift from Ra himself, and in that moment Marik resolved to find out everything he possibly he could about this this precious, wonderful, lovable, adorable angel who Ra saw fit to bless him with.

"Yes, Rishad!" He shot to his feet answering the man's earlier question to his clear surprise. "And inform me the moment you have his location! In the meantime recall all the Rare Hunters and ready the jet. We make for Domino City!"

Now _that_ took Rishad by surprise.

* * *

Hope you all enjoyed Marik's little bout :) this was VERY fun to write! i love his pov and i can totally see him seeing Atem as an anime and falling head over heels in love with all of Yugi's strength and cuteness. Stay tuned for more segments!

NEXT TIME: The Dungeon Dice Arc the way it was SUPPOSED to be (aka in the Manga) has Bakura turned over a new leaf? Or does he have something far more sinister planned for out Favorite pharaoh and Yugi? Meanwhile Marik relocates the rare hunters to Domino determined to learn all he can about his hated rival Yami-and the super cute young man he inhabits.


	3. Lilac and Rosemary

I am having so much fun writing this series!

Special thanks to Orochi-Dragon14 for helping me come up with Marik's alias! you rock girl!

Little time line note: This picks up right after Duelist Kingdom and takes place around the month of April 1996 (following the manga timeline)

* * *

Lilacs and Rosemary

* * *

Cryptological communication through the use or arrangement of flowers as a form of secret codes and expressions of devotion was a method that had been used for millennia, but two young never thought it would affect either of them so strongly...nor the chain reaction it would entitle.

Or

Marik is hopelessly in love with Yugi but is at a lost on how to tell him—until he discovers the language of the flowers! Bakura thinks is pointless (and content knowing this definitely insane new interloper is no threat to his plans) but he can admit sending secret codes using non medicinal plants certainly has its uses...

* * *

Bakura watched Yugi happily sing as he swept the front of the Kame Game Shop with infinite patience and mild amusement. He wore the millennium puzzle around his neck on a thick rope while the Spirit that inhabited it leaned against the shop wall with all the swagger and carefree grace of a cat lounging on its favorite pillow, bowl of cream in paw. Those fiery eyes were glowing in the Japanese sunset and watching Yugi with such intensity that under different circumstance Bakura might've felt jealous. _Might_ have.

They bantered after a while, the whole thing entirely playful—the brat teasing the pharaoh about helping with chores, said king claiming he'd "love" to if he were only corporeal and said brat countering by offering said spirit control of his body—if, of course, the Spirit was _so_ determined to help. It continued like that until Bakura was certain his teeth had all rotted.

Apparently the brat had even come up with a new name for the Pharaoh as well, which would have _certainly_ pissed Bakura off if it wasn't for the fact it suited him, and (though Bakura would never admit it this out loud) the fact that the former king adored it.

_Yami_. He tested the name in his mind.

"Yami," He said it out loud.

"_Yami_," He said enjoying the way it rolled off his tongue, the way it tasted, the way is sounded: smooth and dark and mysterious like the very darkness the word originated from. Oh yes, it _certainly _fit the Pharaoh perfectly, loathed as he was to admit it.

Pharaoh must've chosen it for himself.

It didn't bother Bakura half as much as what the actual act meant—the pharaoh, _his _pharaoh, was growing content: new name, new identity, new life...that thinking was dangerous.

_No matter,_ he assured himself. _Let him have his freedom for a little while longer. It would neither stop nor hinder my plans_.

Eventually the curiosity would be too great for either Yami or the brat Yugi to ignore—especially given Yugi's role.

_Oh yes_, Bakura thought to himself with a maniacal laugh!

_Everything_ was going according to plan!

That was when he noticed the blond-haired, bronzed-skinned, leather clad figure spying on Yugi from around the shop's corner.

X X X

"Oh sweet, merciful Ra and all his followers," Marik swore as he gazed upon the mesmerizing creature in front of him. "He's even cuter in person!"

His heart hammered so heart he could practically feel the indent it left in his rib cage (the fact it was now beating a billion miles a minute at least sure didn't help. He pulled at his hoodie, suddenly feeling overheated and knowing full well it had nothing to do with the weather—he'd ditched his cloak and hood for that very reason, and sent a silent prayer to all of the Egyptian Pantheon for their generosity, for surely what God in their right mind was foolish enough to let this brightest and sweetest and most mesmerizing of all angels slip through his fingers to dwell down here in the pathetic excuse of swineheards that was humanity (seriously he couldn't wait to take over the world so he could weed out the slimeballs, no disrespect to his Jam cards, of course.)

Oh yes his Yugi was truly flawless—the images he saw in the rod and through the eyes of his mind slaves did no justice compared to the radiant beauty that was Yugi's grace the way the real thing did. Those magnificent eyes outshined the stars with the joy and brightness they radiated. Their breathtaking violet color was so resplendent, even the deepest and most marvelous of amethysts would look dull and colorless by comparison. His silky hair danced in the breeze before falling perfectly back into place around his hair, the blond bangs framing his perfect smile like a queen's diadem, while the midnight locks shimmered between pink and red in the sunlight. The soft curves of his lovely smiling face gave him an angelic appearance, like a sweet cherub. Even now as he watched him, sweeping the side walk with the biggest and brightest and most joyous smile he had ever seen on a human being, like even the simplest of minuscule tasks brought him joy.

Marik sighed and all but melted into a pile of goop right then and there, and had to lean against the building wall to keep himself upright.

Yugi was simply, lovely: Yugi needed no make-up or adornments, and his whole appearance spoke of a stripped down elegance. His flawlessness and beauty came from his smile, his kind eyes, his natural love and zest for life. His small size and height only added to that flawlessness: his slender build, tiny waist and perfect hips reminded him of a belly dancers, and his long, graceful limbs with small muscles gave him a look that was both masculine and feminine and all over attractive. (In truth, he realized at his current height Yugi could fit in his arms _perfectly_! Heaven help him if that wasn't a sign from the gods!)

Even with his lack of adornments, minus the puzzle and dressed in a simple white short-sleeved shirt and jeans and sneakers he looked radiant.

He watched as Yugi stopped to take a breath, wiping sweat from his brow. Then he turned towards the sun and smiled as a light breeze played teasingly with his bangs, and oh Marik envied that breeze! He watched as Yugi set the brook down, leaned back on his heels and stretched with his arms over his head—is whole body curved in a perfect arc and shit riding up in the front as he did so revealing a sliver of soft, creamy skin. Those cherry blossom pink, flower petal lips curling into a sultry sort of smile then parted in a relaxed moan.

Marik's mouth suddenly went dry. He felt hot all over, his legs suddenly became shaky and he knees buckled, weakly. Holy Hell, he was sexy…and he didn't even know it! Oh Heaven him, Baset and Hathor both had left their mark on him.

Then Yugi paused.

Marik froze. A look of curious confusion that made Yugi look even cuter graced his face as he looked around.

Marik panicked, half-squeaked half gasped, and dove around the corner pressing his back against the shop wall out of sight and hyperventilated through his nose. He _felt _rather than heard his pounding heart.

He could imagine Yugi looking around, curious and confused, wondering what this bemusing feeling was. Heard him shrugging his shoulders before resuming his work.

He waited another thirty seconds before checking and sure enough there Yugi was, laughing, smiling and humming contently as he swept the front like it was the funnest thing in the whole world. The evening sunlight spotlighted him and highlighting his beauty in a way nothing else could—it was like Ra himself was shining on Yugi showing Marik in the most blatant way that Yugi as his. That he had been sent from the gods as a wonderful precious gift for him.

That Yugi was indeed _his_.

_Thank you Ra_,_ Bast, Hathor and all of the Partheon._ Marik folded his hands together in prayer despite his knees struggling to keep him upright, _I will not turn down this blessing._

He continued to watch him until Yugi finished up and headed inside. But before he went inside he turned, and for a moment Yugi thought he was talking to air—then he saw the nearly invisible specter haunting his every move.

The Pharoah!

Marik nearly jumped out and attacked him in fury but he controlled himself.

Of course, how could he forget that malicious creatin! That parasite feeding off his precious Yugi's light and wonderfulness like a ravenous, bloated leech!

_No, _He decided, clenching his fist in determination, watching as Yugi departed inside, the spirit of the puzzle disappearing with him, his sweet, naïve little Yugi laughing and none the wiser. _Ra, what lies had that charlatan poisoned him with? _His indignation transformed into fury. Then pride. Then an evil plan!

"No matter! Fear not, my sweet Yugi. Whatever that false king has done I will rescue you, my love! And I will make you my Queen!"

The realization of what he said struck him like a thunderbolt, and he covered his mouth shocked by what he'd just confessed—out loud and to himself.

Love…he was in _love_. Yes, that explained it! That explained _everything!_

Determination fueled him! Yes, he loved Yugi! He would rescue his love and after he freed him from that parasitotic spirit he would make Yugi his Queen—not his great Royal Wife as was the custom of the Ancients, but his _Queen—_his partner, his equal, his co-ruler. Oh yes! It was such a beautiful romantic image that Marik started dancing in circles.

Until a sudden thought occurred to him.

_He_ knew who Yugi was…but Yugi _didn't _know _him._

Marik shattered like a broken glass painting. Despair and dread wallowing in the bit of his being and he sank to his knees overcome with depression and sadness.

Yugi didn't know him,

And he had no hope of telling him who he was….let alone his feelings for him…not with that awful Pharaoh stalking about and commanding his lovely Yugi's every move.

Even if he could, the Pharaoh would doubtless convince Yugi he was an enemy…

Was this punishment for something? Surely the Gods were so cruel as to bless him with Yugi, the greatest and most wonderful angel that had ever graced the human plane, only to place him in the hands and arms of his most hated and horrible enemy…

No! He shot up. No, he would not let that happen! Somehow, some way he _would_ rescue his beloved. Somehow, some way he _would_ show Yugi the depth of his feelings and convince him that _he_, not that parasitic pharaoh who was a cold blooded murder, was his destined soulmate.

Now the question was how?

He sank into despair again, and sulked miserably towards nowhere, not even remembering when he'd gotten up and started walking in the first place. He was on the verge of bursting into tears of sheer helplessness when he smashed into something—and saw it was a posterboard sign. He was on the verge of sending that stupid sign that dared to kick him while he was down to the shadow realm until he read the words…and heard the chorus of angels singing in the background.

_Tell the one you love your feelings without words!_

He offered a hymn of gratitude to the Part heron and without thinking or looking at what the shop was or offered, dove inside.

X X X

Bakura blinked.

And blinked again.

Having witness the whole exchange from the roof and having jumped down the streets to follow this new stranger around the corner, he could form only one logical response:

"Who the fuck is this, now!?"

_My guess is Yugi has a secret admirer, though I don't think I've ever seen him before? Maybe he's a new student at our school?_

Bakura snorted in annoyance. "What are you going on about, landlord?"

Ryou ignored the snap. _I answered your question. _There was a warning in his undertone that Bakura recognized. Turning up the charm, he rubbed a hand through his bat-wing shaped bangs and smiled. "Oh relax, landlord, I told you, I've turned over a new leaf—I'm not going to hurt you or any of your friends again. I was merely curious that's all?"

It was the deal they'd made after Bakura had convinced him to seek his aid when he and the rest of the brats were trapped in that cave. Ryou had not trusted the spirit, then, but he'd kept his word and they'd formed a truce of sorts: Bakura would no longer hurt Ryou or his friends in any way (even if his previous actions of sealing his friends souls in table top icons _was_ his ay of granting Ryou's wish of being able to play with his friends forever and ever, Ryou made it clear that in future his wishes were not to be taken so literal) and in exchange he would allow Bakura access to his body when he needed it. Surely it couldn't be fun trapped in a ring all the time. Ryou understood the spirit's need for escape—just as long as he behaved himself. Bakura had agreed, and had yet to break his word.

_Well then_, _my theory is Yugi has a secret admirer, a crush if you will, meaning someone likes him and isn't sure how to tell him._

Bakura arched a brow. Well that sounded lame. Still…maybe he should check this new person out, he may not have been essential to Bakura's plans but Yugi still was, and if some loser was going to show up and become a distraction than that person had to go.

_Bakura!_ Ryou snapped.

"I didn't mean it that way, Ryou," Bakura assured him. "Go back to sleep, landlord, I'm going to spy for a little bit."

Ryou groaned in his mind but consented.

Relieved to have his own thoughts back, Bakura examined the premises in which the stranger had all but bulldozed inside. A flower shop…if the abundant of planters, window boxes and rows upon rows of fresh blooming flowers was any indications—course that only brought up more questions than answers. With about as much reluctance as a fish swimming through sand, he entered the shop, slipped to the back and watched as the stranger—who introduced himself as Marik, chatted it up with a way too happy looking girl at the cash register about the sign out front.

The girl asked him about his "crush" and Ryou watched as this so called Marik all but liquefied into a pile of goo with how long and deep he sighed before launching into a sickeningly sweet and romantic description in which he paraphrased each and every way the pharaoh's brat was an angel sent from the heavens to bless the world with his presence. Bakura could practically see the explosion of pinks surrounding him

It made Bakura want to throw-up.

He never was the romantic type.

Said boy droned on and on—then nearly broke down crying when he explained how said brat didn't know he even existed and how to best confess his feelings without looking like psychopath.

Bakura was just about to leave, convinced his guy was _way _too stupid to be a threat when the girl said "Have you heard of the language of the flowers?"

"Language of the flowers!?" Bakura stopped and whined out making it perfectly clear that was the dumbest and most useless sounding thing he'd ever heard.

"Yup!" the way to bubbly girl smiled and whispered to Marik as if she were telling him a secret. "Back before it was okay to date, people used flowers to express their feelings for people they liked and send messages. Sort of like the Victorian version of private messaging."

Bakura snorted in disgust.

"That way," the girl continued, "If you had to deal with stuff like snobby parents or possessive suitors, lovers could exchange their own secret messages."

Now _that_ caught Bakura's attention.

"You know, 'cause back in the day, when people were total prudes and didn't like public displays of affection and all that, people needed a way to tell each other how they felt and making plans to rendezvous—right under their warden's noses."

(Bakura would've _loved _to show them what exactly _was_ appropriate in Kemet).

Lover boy looked enthralled. "So I can tell my lover exactly how I feel about him using these plants?"

"Yup!" the girls bounced over to a display table, where certain flowers in planters and in water had little messages attached to them. "Each flower means something different, so you can tell them what it means and no one else will know." She winked playfully. "Your own secret lovers code!"

Using flowers as a form of secret code to undermine the pompous aristocracy: now _that_ caught Bakura's attention.

He slipped to the shadows watching as the idiot gushed over his choices and scrutinized each one, made notes on which one would be best to send when and formed a whole plan—out loud—on how he was going to win the brat's heart (pink hearts exploding around him for fast, Bakura purposely kept a six foot distance away from less he get struck by a rouge projectile).

Gazing over the display table, he noticed a few distinct plants with a _very_ particular message…true he himself had never been fond of plants accept for medicinal purposes, but he recalled how a certain someone was _quite_ fond of gardening and might appreciate a mini garden with its own secret meaning.

A wicked smile spread across his face._ That _could certainly work.

X X X

"Yugi! Hurry up! You don't want to be late for your first day of school!" Grandpa called upstairs in a sing-song voice while putting two slices of bread in the toaster.

"Grandpa! School started up two weeks ago!" Yugi called, thundering down the stairs and doing an impressive job of multitasking—tying his shoes, slipping his jacket and backpack up his shoulders, and managing not to fall on his butt as he hopped down the stairs—only to slip on the last step and land on his rump with a loud, painful "Oaf!"

He heard a snort and glared at his grandfather, whose pinched face and crooked smile made it perfectly clear it was taking all of the old man's willpower not to burst out laughing.

Yugi smirked. "Are you sure your soul didn't lose any brain cells on its way back to your body?" He asked sweetly, doing a bang up job of hiding a since as he stood and straightened his back.

Grandpa looked indignant. "I'll have you know, my memory is a sharp as a tact! Thank you very much!" he poked his noggin and crossed his arms boldly for emphasis. "But it certainly got your lazy but out of bed didn't it?" he grinned.

He knew his grandson.

"I was already awake!" Yugi lied, taking the roast out of the toaster and popping on into his mouth and spreading strawberry cream cheese on the other, getting his full serving of grains, dairy and fruits in one sitting. He'd been up late the night before building a new deck with Yami and binge-watching reruns of comedy shows in order to help said spirit better understand the living world, since it seemed he would be here for a while—and Yugi certainly didn't want him feeling like the only time he was allowed to use his body was to duel or when some bully ot insane teacher needed to be put in their place.

Speaking of which, _You promise you'll behave this year, right Yami?_

_Aibou, I'm hurt._ Said spirit materialized as his side, visible only to Yugi. Yugi fixed him with a hard stare that, in Yami's opinion, only made him look cute, but he bowed and promised nonetheless. _As long as your teachers and classmates behave themselves I promise not to engage anyone in any penalty games. In fact I've resolved not to use them anymore from now on. If Kaiba can learn from his mistakes, who am I not to judge._

Yugi smiled. He knew well, how bad Yami felt after Pegasus' whole "evil intelligence" comment, but in truth, in the two weeks since he and his friends had started their sophomore year, Domino high had been a much…happier place honestly. Ms. Crono, the guidance counselor, all those arrogant senior students and even the gym teacher who made life at Domino high for Yugi, Ryou and their classmates hell had seemed to turn over a new leaf while those who didn't like Ushio had either left the school or were "asked to resign".

It was nice to actually relax and actually learn at school—his father and step-mother hadn't exactly been happy with his last report card, which Grandpa had sent them before Duelist Kingdom started, the traitor.

"Bye Grandpa!" Yugi called over his shoulder, and existed through the shop door, instead of the house apartment—and almost stumbled over something resting peacefully on the welcome mat.

There lying not an inch from his feet with a shimmering violet ribbon around the stem, was a single lovely white lily. He picked it up, inhaled the perfume of his it's sent, touched the golden heart of its pollen. It was lovely.

Then he saw the card, read it, and blushed.

_My Angel,_

_Purity and Majesty are what his flower symbolizes: just as you have the purest soul and the grace, strength and regality of a Queen._

_Love _

_Khazamaa_

X X X

It was the first of many such gifts he'd received in the coming weeks.

The next day he'd received a bouquet of daisies wrapped in another violet ribbon with another card: _My Angel, For the innocence of your angelic soul and the purity of your kind heart—Khazamaa. _

The day after that there was a lovely magnolia on his desk at homeroom. The note read: _My Angel, Nobility, because you have the Heart of the Pharaoh and the Soul of a Queen—Khazamaa._

Over the weekend, after Saturday classes he found a collection of deep purple violets on the doorstep. Tis time the note read _My Angel, violets represent modesty, because yours is a natural beauty that needs no for grimcrack—Khazamaa._

The next gift he received, continued in sister to the violets: at least three beautiful pale pink and magenta hibiscus. _For your delicate beauty that outshines the sun and is more resplendent then the stars._

The next week saw a theme to his gifts: a rainbow bouquet of crocus and golden honeysuckle_ Cheerfulness and gladness, as your smile always is and always makes me feel. _The next weekend he found a lovely bouquet of white and red heart-shaped caladium _For the great joy and delight that you bring me. _

The week after saw a more…romantic message to his gifts. A pink camellia for longing, sprigs of lavender for admiration; a red carnation for affection and a message that read _As my heart aches for you. _The grand finale arrived on his desk that Saturday after class (though how _Khazamaa _managed it, Yugi had no idea): a brilliant bouquet of sweet-smelling, soft petaled gardenia: _Secret Love_. Also titled _My Angel._ Also from _Khazamaa._

It was too much. It was overwhelming. It was…so _romantic_, it nearly brought tears to his eyes. It was all he could think about…At school, at home, even at the arcade—it was the only time in history Jou beat him at anything. Even Jou and Honda teasing him endlessly wanting to know who the "lucky girl" was couldn't distract him—though somehow he didn't suspect _Khazamaa _was a girl—he always referred to Yugi as a queen, not that he minded, despite his crush on Tea and his sexual attraction towards Mai, he'd been keeping an open-mind when it came to his sexuality. He wasn't afraid to admit he'd first found Jou attractive, thought that was just a friendship, and it was impossible _not _to be into Yami when the man radiated sex appeal, so he had to be at least bi right?

He sighed, and tucked the gardenia between the pages of his text book where he'd pressed the other flowers and all of _Khazamaa_'s notes, his heart pounded as he did so and he already feel his cheeks starting to heat up. He wasn't used to this, even his new fame as king of games didn't bring the level of hope, passion and sheer _joy _that these secret messages seem to invoke in him. Kami, he was starting to look _forward _to school if it meant getting a new letter during or after classes. But with the joy came a sudden anxiety—the possibility that perhaps this was a trick, or an obsessed fan seeking the King of Games title. The very through chilled him to his core and made his heart ache. He could feel Yami's concern through the puzzle and sent him a quick, calming reply that he was alright—he didn't exactly know how to tell his other self, he had a crush.

Another sigh escaped him and he clutched the text book—the letters and flowers, to his heart, smiling. Oh Kami, he hope this wasn't a trick.

"Yo Yug! Ya coming!" Jou called breaking him out of his trance.

Yugi jumped and quickly shoved the text book into his backpack, between his other books, so not to lose any of its contents. "Yeah. I'm coming!"

X X X

Yugi collapsed on his bed in an exhausted heap. "Oh man…that is the _last _time I play bummer cars with Jou and Honda. Kami, I'm sore!" He moaned into his pillow content to just sleep the rest of the night away—he almost missed the present sitting peacefully on his desk.

"Huh?" he blinked sat up and scooped it up. "What's this?" he unwrapped the soft white tissue paper and a lovely sprig of tiny blossoms clustered together like lavender stars. It was so lovely he couldn't resist smelling it. It smelled so sweet and honest like heather or spring time instead of perfume. Was it from _Khazamaa_?

That was when he saw the note sticking out of the paper, but unlike the previous cars that were sweet and simple. This one was an entire letter! Elegantly written on soft gold parchment and wrapped in a pretty purple ribbon.

Yugi's heart pounded as he untiled the ribbon, and letter unwound itself like a flower opening. Then he began to read:

_My Dearest Yugi,_

_My Angel, I've spent many an hour trying to form the words to convey my feelings for you and yet whenever I try, I find myself unable to form the words—I hope these flowers and the messages they convey have, in some form, been able to express those feelings. Even now as I think of a way to describe you, I find myself unable to form the words for you have left me truly speechless. I know this may sound strange, but ever since I've first laid eyes on you, on your beautiful sweet face, your expressive eyes, the sheer joy of your smile, I cannot help but admire you from afar. _

_Everything you do, everything about you only makes this feeling in me grow and grow: the way you walk with an almost skip in your step, you're natural zest for life, I adore that fun, carefree side of you. Your honestly and your kindness, I can only admire your pure heart, your innocent soul. But I've also seen your strength: the way you stand up for others and yourself, the way you duel with such passion, the courageous way you fight for what you believe is right, even for those who may have wronged you, and yet you never once lose that kindness—never in all my life have I seen someone with such strength in a single human. I am truly amazed by you. Everything you do touches my heart and makes this feeling grow. _

_It is my deepest hope that one day I will find the courage to meet with you face to face, to speak with you in person and to finally convey the words to describe the feelings you have awoken with in me. Until that time comes, I hope this gift will touch your heart as ou have mine._

_Love_

_Khazamaa_

Yugi gasped as he finished the letter, almost burst into tears. With shaking hands he clutched it to his heart. Any fear he might've had that this one some kind of trick evaporated like mists in the morning. No one could make such passionate claims without meaning them, surely, that were true?

Then he saw something peeking between the tissue papers. Still holding the letter like it was a precious child, he gently removed the trinket and gasped in wonderment.

It was a charm bracelet: a solid gold bracelet with a series of charms: the kanji for Koi, a cartouche with what he recognized was his name in hieroglyphics, a flower that at first glance looked like a water lily, the word beloved in hieroglyphs, and most wonderful of all, a beautiful amethyst jeweled heart in the center, and engraved in the band were the words: _My Angel_.

Yugi could hold back no longer. "It's so beautiful!" Tears of sheer joy flooded his eyes and threatened to spill out. He fell back on his bed, eyeing the lovely bracelet, the letter, unable to part with either one. "I can't believe that someone would go to all this trouble for me…to get me something so…so…sweet." Oh God, he really was going to cry. All doubts and fears of this being some cruel trick were gone. "That someone feels this strongly for me?" It was a bizarre feeling, to feel so strongly towards someone he hadn't met, but how could he not feel flattered by such an affectionate announcement, by such a display of affection?

Which brought up another question: who was _Khazamaa_?

He doubt it was someone he knew. Kaiba could certainly afford something as expensive as his new bracelet but he certainly wasn't the romantic type. But then who…

"I wonder…" and with that wonderment came another terrifying and exhilarating question…Did he dare pursue this?

"YUGI!" Yugi all but jumped out of his skin and screamed when he heard his grandfather scolding. "Are you still awake!? It's 11 o'clock! You should be asleep! You have school tomorrow!"

"Sorry grandpa!" Yugi called, "I'm going to bed now!"

He changed into his pajamas in a flash, brushed his teeth and climbed into bed, but before placing his love letter on his nightstand and his bracelet around his wrist.

X X X

Marik's heart just exploded! "He likes it! He likes it! He likes it!" he chanted over and over again cheering and doing a happy dance in his sheer and utter joy. Yugi loved his gift, he loved his letter, he was considering returning his feelings! The spark was there, the seed that would blossom into the brilliant glorious flower that would become their love!

"Oh Yugi, my sweet, darling Yugi! My Angel sent from Ra himself," Marik mused, casting once last glance towards the window as Yugi prepped for the night (much as he desire to see his darling in all his _natural _glory, he knew he wouldn't be able to control himself any longer is he stayed. He _refused_ to violate Yugi's trust and privacy—God his face flushed and his heart burned at the thought).

With a dreamy sigh, sending a cloud of pink pooping hearts escaping him, he slid to the ground, grateful for the long, dark colors cloak and robe hiding him in the shadows. "Oh how I wish to reveal myself to you…but no matter." He had a plan for that after all. He giggled to himself at the thought. "Ishizu will be setting battle city in motion soon, and then…then…I'll have _plenty _of time to court you properly."

With that, he disappeared back into the shadows and head back towards the base before Rishad noticed he was gone.

X X X

"What an idiot," Bakura shook his head in disgust watching as the love struck fool vanished down the street, still trailing popping pink cartoon hearts like some anime school girl. Well, at least he knew this new stranger wasn't a threat to the Pharaoh—just some love struck moron obsessed with the brat. _Him_ he could have.

_Now then_…a wicked grin slit Bakura's face as he removed something from the shadow of his trench coat. _Time to make my move._

He threw back his head with a wild laugh. "You may be content for now, Princess...but sooner or later your curiosity will be too much to handle and when that happens every step you take will take you one step closer...to me!"

X X X

Yami smiled as he watched Yugi sleep. He normally did not need too, but he'd felt the strong emotions Yugi had been radiating all night and couldn't help himself but spy—if only to sedate his curiosity. He spied the lilac sprig sitting innocently atop the letter he'd received, and narrowed his eyes in suspicious. Lilac, he recalled, meant the first buddings of love or love at first sight in the language of the flowers (Yugi had become much more knowledgeable of the subject since these mysterious letters from someone calling themselves _Khazamaa _arrived. The name was from no language Yami was familiar with, and that alone roused his suspicions.

He was human enough to admit that he'd felt a twinge of jealousy when Yugi started reviewing letters from what his friends called a "secret admirer" yet that concept only aroused his suspicion. If this _Khazamaa _truly meant what he said about Yugi, what he felt then why hide his identity? Why feel the _need_ to hide such a thing? Was it a trick? An obsessed fan? Someone attempting to usurp Yugi's rightfully won title by causing him emotional pain.

Yami slammed his fist against the wall, outrage radiating off him in waves. The very thought of someone misusing Yugi's gentle heart in such a way…he may have sown never to enact a penalty game again, but he _would_ protect his abiou.

No matter what.

He may not know who this _Khazamaa_ was, but he was determined to find out.

He trusted Yugi's judgement—it had never stirred him wrong before, but if one of them had to be cautious—then it would be Yami.

Something that sounded like laugher echoed behind them followed by a chill breeze that caused the curtain to brush against Yami's incorporeal shoulders like a ghost. Yami shot to attention, whirled on the interloper demanding "Who's there! Show yourself!"

Silence greeted the challenge and with the exception of the curtain swaying a bit as it returned to place, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

With a sigh of relief, he was about to return to the puzzle when something caught his eye. Then he saw it—the planter on the window. Not a sprig of a flower in a vast left to wilt, wither and die (he never found the appeal in offering half-dead plants as gifts) but a small terra cotta pot complete with soil and several bushy plants: a mint green bush covered in tiny needles, a cluster of lovely deep blue flowers with white hearts all growing around each other and in the heart spouted two long-stemmed flowers. One a clustered bloom of spiky pale pink petals, soft to his spectral touch, but the other…the other he had to search his memory for. A golden heart surrounded by five large tear-shaped petals, its edges curled in to resemble a sort of point, and the delicious scent of freshly brewed sweet tea escaped it. A tea rose, he recalled.

Was it another gift from _Khazamaa_? There didn't seem to be a card.

With a hum of curiosity, he examined the labels and felt his fingers tremble with each new message:

_Rosemary—remembrance_

_Forget-Me-Not—memory _

_Pink Carnation—I'll never forget you_

And that lovely tea rose that reminded him of long ago gardens that he once loved…

_I will remember, always._

Yami stumbled back, nearly stumbling over Yugi's desk.

He found the potted bouquet's tag and the name that was on it.

And it wasn't Yugi's.

* * *

Just wanna say this one was SO much fun to write, thought definitely tuned out longer and more serious than i originally planned but somehow it worked! I love writing Marik's more human side, since he really is such a passionate and tragic character (in the manga his hatred for Atem is to both avenge his father's death but also free his family from what he believes is a life of servitude and darkness and that everything he does, no matter how bad is in essence to accomplish that goal, which adds a whole new level of death to his character and personality that i feel got totally erased in the 4kids adaption-why the dubb version cut it i will never know)

Anyway, Marik's character is definitely the easiest to write in this series-he just comes alive whenever he's on screen and i love it! And also i love showing Bakura from behind the scenes...you know hes's got ulterior motives in all this but you almost don't know what.

Notes:

Notes on Timeline:

Once again this story follows the MANGA timeline which has some key differences from the English Anime (but not the Japanese version) the prinary of which is that the Japanese school year starts in April. **Japanese schools use a three semester system**. The first **term** runs to around July 20, when summer vacation begins. Kids return to **school** in early September for the second **term**, which lasts until about December 25. The final **term** begins in early January and continues to late March.

According to the manga, volume 1-6 take place during Yugi and the gang's freshman year, thus Duelist Kingdom took place in that two week period between the end of Yugi and the gang's freshman year and the start of their Sophmore year.

I estimated that this oneshot takes place through April and thus the Dungeon dice arc would take place in late April/Early May.

Marik's Religious References

Baset/Bast—Cat Goddess of dance, grace, sexual love and sexual pleasure, protector of Pharaoh and his family

Hathor—Cow Goddess of Women and Motherhood, Goddess of Romantic Love and both inner and physical beauty

(both goddesses were seen as "other halves" of Sekhmet the war goddess and were thus love goddesses and invoked upon very heavily in love powtry and courtship especially in terms of romantic and sexual love)


	4. Interlde: New Game

Well some good came out the CORV-19 shut down. I now have plenty of time to write and i am determined to do just that!

So originally this chapter was going to be a short interlude/transitional chapter but it ended up being much longer and much more fun to write and provided some critical information needed to transition into the next segment, which will be Dungeon Dice Monsters Manga-style from Bakura's pov (seriously i am SO pissed they cut Bakura from the Dungeon Dice arc of the anime! if you haven't read the mange at lest read volumes 9 and 10 they WILL change everything!) and it allowed me to come up with a super cool title!

Quick Note: As this follow the manga so this takes place right after the last chapter on the last weekend in April (see end notes for more)

Disclaimer: This is loosely based off the Yugioh Manga which belongs to Kazuki Takehashi and thus takes place during 1996 and makes references to Japanese culture, customs and late 90s technology. It was also loosely inspired by Goddess9Rouge's fancomic Malik in Love (to clarify as I've been asked before if I was simply writing that comic out the answer is NO. Though i admit i am a huge fan of Goddess9Rouge and her comic and i hope everyday that she finished it an am so grateful she made it cause it resurrected me own love of Librashipping-and let's face it its the _only_ real librashipping comic out there, seriously its criminal how much more love this pairing needs! That said, while the comic _inspired_ some ideas in this story, such s the concept of Marik falling in love with Yugi at first sight, this is _my _story and _my_ own take on Battle City and more than anything its primarily Darkshpping and works in tangent with with my other Intertwined series The Two Kings, if anything is directly inspired by other sources, such I will of course give credit in the disclaimer,

As always read, review, comment, critique, ask questions and have fun! This one was fun to write!

* * *

_Interlude—New Game_

Yami appeared over Yugi's shoulder—a proud, smiling specter. "It looks good on you, partner!"

"Are you sure? It's not too flashy? Wearing the puzzle on a chain, I mean?" Yugi asked with an uncertain smile, stroking the puzzle in his hands. A shiny new chain replaced the old, worn, rope: tangible symbol of the bond they shared through the puzzle—strong, supportive and unbreakable.

"It's too subtle is you ask me," Yami chuckled with a saucy wink, spectral hands on Yugi's shoulder and flashed him a smirk and a thumbs up. "You should add some silver chains on your arms, and some leather bracelets and that leather choker with the buckle as well! And perhaps that blue leather shirt of mine with the gold studs…"

"No way!" Yugi protested, shaking his head and blushing. "That's not my style at all!"

"Awe, come on?" Yami teased with a long drawn out whine, sliding back and plopping down on Yugi's bed as he did so. "Show Anzu and your friend how cool you are." Yami winked again.

"D-don't tease me like that." Yugi grimaced, blushing again, and darted about the room putting the final touches on his uniform.

"Oh abiou," Yami gave a dramatic swoon over his shoulder as Yugi fished through his desk and pulled out the book he'd been keeping all his love letters and pressed flowers. His voice, full of mock hurt, was betrayed by the dashing smirk he wore. "You know I'd never tease you."

Yugi snorted and flashed his own knowing smirk. "Liar." He placed last night's letter and lilacs between two fresh pages and carefully stuffed it into his bag, just as Grandpa announced Anzu was downstairs.

Yami watched Yugi leave, his new bracelet twinkling in the morning light like a noon day sun, and cast one last look at the potted bouquet left in the sunlight before vanishing back into the puzzle. The object and the message it carried had been a constant source of curiousty and agitation since its discovery—even more so since he did not know its origins, but he knew what it meant or at least thought that he did…

_Rosemary for remembrance, Forget-me-not for memory_: there was no doubting what those two plants were referring to.

He had chosen to make peace with the life he once lived in Ancient Egypt—if even that single bit of information could be trusted—content to simply make new memories with Yugi and his friends, but more than that, it seemed almost pointless to focus on what was lost, what was clearly beyond his reach. More than once he thought perhaps it was a blessing, this amnesia, sparing him the grief of all he'd lost when he'd sealed himself away—he knew he'd been young when it happened, around the age Yugi was now, perhaps a little older but the point was whatever had happened had cut his life short.

This was his second chance.

That was how he'd chosen to see it.

Until the message of those last two flowers fully registered—a tea rose and a pink carnation: _I'll always remember _and _I'll never forget you_.

And just like that, someone else, someone who clearly knew about his past, about him and did not want him to forget, had entered his life and turned those carefully made choices of his upside down. But the question was who and why? And just like that, he finally understood how the labyrinth of his soul room was a reflection of his own amnesia in a way he never truly realized until then.

It had been so easy to move on when he didn't have a past to remember or grieve, but now, _now_ thoughts of that life bombarded him with questions he'd never asked himself before: who was he? Who were his friends? His family? Did he have a career? A passion? Talents? Did he have parents? Grandparents? Brothers and sisters?

A lover?

Was _that_ the reason for the rose and the carnation? But even then _who_? _Who_ else knew about him besides Yugi, their friends, Pegasus and Shadi? Another Millennium item holder, perhaps? Including Shadi's, two were still unaccounted for.

But then…that only raised another question…who else besides Yugi called him Yami?

These were the kinds of questions that burned unanswered in his mind.

He had been both relieved and disappointed when Yugi had found it that morning and asked Yami if he knew who it was from, a secret part of him hoping beyond hope maybe it _was _Yugi who had sent it. Which only confirmed his earlier suspicions that it must be someone from his past? But again the question was who? And why? And what in his memory was so important?

Yugi and Anzu's laughter broke the wall of his thoughts. He gazed at them both through the puzzle's eye and smiled.

_It doesn't matter_, he resolved. _I'm happy with the way things are. That's what matters._

X X X

"Wow." Anzu's eyes widened as she read and re-read the letter. "I think your right about this _Khazamaa _being a guy. I don't know a single girl who would write anything this…boldly romantic." It was the best way she could describe it.

She watched her friend fiddle with his new bracelet and couldn't deny the twinge of jealousy in her heart—whether it was jealousy _for _Yugi or _of _Yugi she did not know, but it answered her heart's burning question regardless. "This is the same guy who's been leaving you letters and flowers all month?"

Yugi nodded. "Yeah about a week before school started…"

"And he just…left this on your desk with a gift and the flowers? Are you sure it's safe?" She couldn't help but be concerned. Last thing she wanted was for he best friend to lose his heart to a stalker, or worse.

"Grandpa put them there," he explained. "They were outside the shop and had my name on them, so he just assumed." He chose not to mention the mini garden left for Yami. That was his other self's secret, not his.

"Still," Anzu warned gently. "All this from a complete stranger?"

"I know it sounds strange, and believe me I thought the same thing, but…" A look of dreamy eyed wonderment overcome her friend, but beneath it was a resolve and maturity that saw far beyond the stars in his eyes. "I'll admit it's really nice being loved and adored like this but more than that it feels…real. I don't know how else to describe it. I know very well these letters could all be a joke or someone playing a prank but after this last one…it just doesn't feel like someone could fake those emotions. Like I can _feel_ the truth in them. It's strange, but it feels like I know this person from before, from somewhere else, like there's a connection between us. It's like the connection I have with the millennium puzzle but…different."

He sighed, a pale blush coming to his cheeks as he nervously brushed a stray bang behind his face. "Does that sound silly?" His eyes were weary but radiated with earnest.

"Not at all!" Tea smiled with a sigh of her own. She recognized that look and knew it was a look she herself had never felt either with Yugi or the spirit she'd failed to see was a separate person. Duelist Kingdom taught her a lot when it came to those feelings. "It sounds like you really like this person and you wanna see where this goes and what becomes of it, whether it's a friendship, a relationship or something else entirely...I think you should go for it. You know, if _Khazamaa_ ever decides to reveal himself and all."

Yugi shot up, his eyes bright. "You really think I should?"

"Yeah!" Tea beamed. "You deserve someone who will make you happy, Yugi. Speaking of that," she switched to a playful air. "Think you'll get another love flower today?"

Yugi blushed and brushed away another lock. "I hope so."

They reached the school, met up with the boys, and together headed for homeroom where sure enough Yugi found another flower and attached note sitting on his desk. This one, a fantastic purple rose whose bright color matched his eyes and stole his breath. The card read _My Angel, a purple rose for magic and enchantment as you truly have enchanted me—Khazamaa._

He'd spent all of homeroom rolling it between his fingers under his desk, a dreamy smile on his face as he looked out the window.

He didn't hear the dismissal bell ring until Jou tapped his shoulder and snapped awake.

As he quickly placed it with the pressed lowers in his book a shadow flashed out the corner of his eye than vanished when he turned to look.

He blinked. _Wonder what that was._

X X X

_One half hour earlier…_

Marik impatiently rapped his foot waiting for the spelled teacher fumbling with lock of the classroom door.

_Comeon, comeon, comeON!_ He mentally _screeched_, forcing his impatient fingers to not shake less the Millennium Rod's spell be interrupted or, more importantly, the fragile violet rose in his hand become damaged by his frustration. No, he told himself. He would be patient. Nothing but the best for his darling Yugi, who deserved nothing less. He'd specifically waited to deliver this one—the magnificent color near identical to Yugi's wondrous eyes but never able to surpass their sparkle. He couldn't wait to see Yugi's face when he received it.

He sighed dreamily and nearly melted into a puddle on the floor. His thoughts filled with daydreams of his darling beloved.

Unfortunately, he'd forgotten to take in to consideration that Japanese students went to half-day classes on Saturdays (and didn't want to disappoint his darling by not delivering an expectant gift—he would _die_ before he allowed Yugi to feel anything akin to sadness or disappointment!). And his usual flower shop opened _later_ on weekends, thus forcing him to improvise _and _rush when he normally had hours to prepare. So instead, of mind-controlling the first teacher or security guard or whoever arrive first to unlock the school, set up his affections and then be gone like a thief in the night with none the wiser, he had to _sneak _in, like an _actual _thief, mind control the homeroom teacher who was always late, and rush the whole thing—leading to his current situation.

An audible _click_ broke his concentration.

"Finally!" Marik half whispered, half shrieked. "Now…go do something until class starts…and forget you saw me!" he added and watched as the mind controlled teacher obey. She'd awaken as soon as she was faraway enough with only a vague sense of forgetfulness.

He dashed inside and slipped the Rod back into his belt. He had to act quickly. He scanned the room for Yugi's desk, found it in the middle of the room and placed his latest offering of love right in the center with _Khazamaa_'s latest love letter. He stopped for a minute, sighed so envious of that desk and the amount of time it got to spend with Yugi—

—and wanted nothing more in that moment then for the shadows to swallow him up.

Why, oh _why_ couldn't he gather the courage to reveal himself to his darling in person—and immediately blamed that parasite false pharaoh!

_Not yet_, he told himself. _Not yet. _He had a plan for when he'd introduce himself to Yugi…when they'd meet in person. Real life flesh and bone and not through precious flowers and words of adornment, or in glances from afar…oh yes, it would be perfect. He told himself…

As soon as he could stand to be in Yugi's angelic presence without freezing up into a timid, tongued-tied _idiot_—he squeezed the Rod's hilt so hard his knuckles turned white.

Ugh, it truly was the greatest test of worthiness from the gods to grant him one of their precious angels and yet steal away all his courage whenever he came face to face (or, well, _tried _to come face to face) with the dazzling creature that was his heart's every and only desire.

Marik braced himself on the smooth surface of the desk, took a deep breath to calm himself—and inhaled lilacs and sunshine and spring days and wrought gold and something that was completely, wholly, Yugi—and all but sighed himself in to a molted puddle of purple love struck goo.

And then the first bell rang.

"SHIT!" Marik shrieked and bolted for the door but too many students flooded the hallway—and his darling Yugi and his friends among them.

_NononononnononoonoonnonoNO!_

He couldn't let Yugi meet him like this! He was still wearing his Rare Hunter robe for Ra's sake!

_Oh shit!_ He darted back and forth looking for another exit but there was only the door and the windows. Oh heavenly Ra was there no _second exit_? What if there was a fire? What idiot designed a high school without an extra classroom fire exit!

The doorknob started to jingle.

_SHIT! _

With no other choice, he leapt onto the windowsill, slid it open and slipped out onto the ledge—and nearly screamed when he realized he was on the second floor.

By a miracle of the Gods, he managed to squeeze himself against the wall and wedge himself in the gap between the classroom windows and said a silent prayer of thanks for all the year he'd spent playing hide and seek with Rishad and Ishizu as a child. Years in the underground tombs had taught him to how to wedge himself into small, slim spaces for extended periods of time and thank the Gods the window ledges were wide enough to stand on. He didn't dare sigh in relief though. Sekhmet forbid he loose his footing. His heart was already hammering _way _too hard for his liking and it took a momentous effort to keep his mouth shut and not openly hyperventilate.

Homeroom wasn't that long right? He could stay out here until everyone left? If things got bad he could just mind control the teacher again.

Then he heard the two-faced bitch tell someone to shut and lock the open window.

_Fuck!_

_This _was bad.

Ra and all of Seth's devils, what idiot put all the second year classes on the _second_ floor!

Okay, he forced himself to calm down and carefully shifted his eyes. Damnit, why did Yugi's desk have to be in the middle of the classroom?

Still, he had to chance it. He moved, _slowly¸_ the rod digging into his hip as he managed to get the tiniest glance of his beloved Yugi at his desk.

Marik's heart stopped.

A look of dreamy-eyed delight graced that sweet, angelic face. He twisted something between his fingers, casting it loving glances every so often. A flash of soft violet told Marik it was his rose.

And then—Yugi sighed: a long, dreamy, drawn-out sight of someone absolutely smitten, someone in love.

Marik's heart all but exploded out of his chest.

Did that mean…?

Was Yugi…?

Did he…did he feel the same way about him?

Or at least about _Khazamaa_...who was technically him?

_Oh Ra_…

_Oh sweet motherly Hathor and great glorious Baset. Yugi returned his feelings!Thank you merciful goddesses! I will not ignore this blessing!_

Marik relaxed into a smile—and almost slipped.

He swallowed a scream and resumed his earlier stance except this time he did nothing to calm his racing heart and hysterical breathing. Holy Hell, how many times was he going to cheat death in the next ten minutes? Anpu and Seth were surely having a field day betting on whether or not he'd live to see the next half an hour. Well sucked for them! He was _not _going to go out this way! Not now! Not when he knew, _knew_ that Yugi loved him back!

…

Okay, well maybe not _loved_ him since technically he didn't know him yet but at least _liked_ him, right?

…or at least liked who he thought was writing him love letters and leaving him flowers.

…and was willing to give him a chance.

Yes! Yugi would be is, he would earn his beloved mind, heart, body and soul! He was going to free him from the parasitic false pharaoh! He was going to marry him and make him his queen when he ruled the world with the power of the millennium puzzle! The parasitic false pharaoh be damned!

…

But first he had to get off this ledge.

That was when he saw the cherry tree just a few feet away. As slowly as he could, he slid one step at a time though each step was murder on his ankles and each movement felt like an earthquake. But life as a tomb keeper had left him accustomed to pain, and love and determination fired his resolve.

Then, finally, he reached out all but screeched with triumph when he grabbed the branch. With a mighty, reckless leap, he allowed the branch to carry him back to the tree. Blinded by victory, he forgot his footing and screamed when the less than stable branch beneath him snapped into.

That time he did scream and his vision was a dizzying blur of branches, leaves, flowers, shadows and sunlight as he was tossed, thrown and propelled back and forth. Branches, leaves and flowers barely cushioning tumbling spiral of his body until he finally crash landed on a pile of bushes, bounced and rolled into the ground.

"Oh ground! Sweet merciful ground!" Marik could've kissed it.

With a loud, anguished groan he forced his battered, bruised and bewildered body to move—and managed to roll onto his stomach with a loud 'oaf' of pain.

Oh _Ra_, he was sore. Everything hurt and he was suddenly extremely grateful for the hood and long cloak or he might've ended up scraped as well as bruised.

Maybe he could just lie here for a bit.

A series of gasps and giggled fire him awake.

Grabbing the Rod, he thrust it forward and commanded. "You saw nothing!"

The repeated the order robotically and stood like manikins until he dashed away and hid in the shadows.

He collapsed against the wall, his body completely betraying him in protest to the action.

Oh Ra! His whole body was pounding!

_Okay, _he thought stealing himself. _Time to go home, take some pain killers, soak in a _long _hot bath, sleep for twenty four hours, and burn this robe._

It was a good plan…

Now where the hell did he park his bike?

X X X

Bakura shook his spectral head in disgusted amusement. _What an idiot. _

He watched Yugi's so-called secret admirer bolt like a rabbit on the run from a jackal after falling from a second-story tall tree and landing in a bush. _How the hell is he even still alive? _

It was still more entertaining than listening to the Geek Squad. Right now they were going on about that new game shop they were all going to after school and how pissed the Old Man was before the conversation shifted to the blond mutt ranting about some other punk showing off. Otogi, Ryou said…not that Bakura cared to listen. A new student who'd joined them starting second year and had acquired quite the fangirl following in the month since school started. If the girl's weren't fawning over the long black "bad boy" spikes tied back in a stylish pony tail, handsome hawk like features and slick ice green eyes, screaming over his saucy smiles and roguish winks, or melting into puddles of goo with each charismatic wink, they were going gaga over the magic tricks he did with dice.

Bakura immediately knew his type.

Far from a simply pretty boy, he was a con artists who knew how to use his charm and wiles to get what he wanted—be it attention, girls, or whatever else. And cared nothing for who he had to squash in order to get it.

Pity, he was so pathetic. _They _might've been friends.

It was no wonder the blond mutt hated him, though.

Maybe Bakura would get lucky and get to witness a brawl between them.

_Bakura…_came his landlord's scolding tone. _You promised you'd behave today._

_Ugh_. _I _am! said spirit insisted, though _why_ exactly his landlord _insisted _on going to school was beyond him—this so called high school whose "importance" everyone ranted about was nothing more than a glorified hormonal teenage prison. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Nonetheless, he _had_ promised. Ryou hadn't been too happy to get the bill from the flower shop, even more so when Bakura refused to explain why he bought it, what it was for and where the darn thing was now. Not that he thought his landlord would care that it was a message for the Pharaoh, or that he suspected Ryou would say anything, mind you. It was just much more fun to tease him.

A part of him suspected Ryou insisted on bringing the ring with him to school, simply to torment him in response.

Two could _easily_ play at that game, of course, but it _did_ give him a chance to spy on the Pharaoh.

_Speak of the devil_, Bakura smirked as said spirit appeared besides Yugi, a specter invisible to all but Yugi and himself (and perhaps Ryou). If the Pharaoh saw Bakura he gave no indication.

No, his attention and Yugi's was fixated entirely on Mutt and Ponytail. Seemed Ponytail had worked his charms on Mutt who rose to the bait and started bragging completely aware to the fact Ponytail was luring him into a trap…one he sprung when he won the game he'd invented at the Mutt's expense—something he hadn't failed to noticed irked the Pharaoh's anger.

It made him smile.

Even as Ponytail pissed him off.

_What do you mean, Bakura?_ Ryou asked curiously.

_Fucker's setting a trap. _Bakura decided to humor him.

_A trap!? _Ryou gasped. _How do you know?_

_Let's just say I know a thing or two about them_, Bakura boasted proudly. _This one's just a more complex version of divide and conquer._ He felt Ryou's confusion through the link and thus explained. _The Mutt's not his target, just his means. The bait if you will. Ponytail lures him in with praise and promise, to make him over-confident then hustles him in order to seduce him into a worse con. The purpose of the first is to rile him up, make him angry, which makes him stupid. Once he has him, _then_ he springs the real trap. Once the Mutt agreed he's already won._

Bakura's words were proven true when Jounouchi demanded another game, and Otogi named the stakes—becoming Otogi's dog for two weeks. And Ryou watched as Bakura's prediction bloomed to life as a poisonous flower.

_He wouldn't make the bet unless he was absolutely certain he would win._

And in truth Otogi's arrogant demeanor did not fade. A victorious smirk painted his face as he dealt the cards. Explained the rules. And when Joey lost, his face transformed to one of absolutely triumph. And after two rounds, despite the odds seemingly being perfectly fair, Jounouchi kept losing. Over and over again.

_And with his victory assured, the loser has no choice but to accept the penalty—whether for pride, honor or some other shit doesn't matter, which is exactly what the dealer wants._

And when Jou slumped there completely and utterly defeated, despite his friend's encouragement and insistence it was just a stupid bet, both Otogi and Jou seemed determined to see it done.

_Because it was never about winning. Or humiliation. _

Though Otogi certainly didn't shy away from such when he demanded Jou call him Master.

_It's about stirring up discord. Pulling at the threads, bit by bit until the string finally snaps. _

_But what's the point! _Ryou demanded turning to ask then spun around when he heard Jou wince in pain.

Bakura smirked. _To rile up the real target, in the hope of turning everyone else against him. Even this shell game is a front. Meant to anger the true target—a coward's tactic. Weaken your opponent by hurting those he loves._

Otogi had struck Jou with a dice like it were a projectile bullet for speaking to someone other than him. And was preparing another projectile.

_Of course, the problem with_ that _tactic is that those who use it, are over confident idiots who've already over estimated their opponent. _

"That's it! I've had enough!" With an enraged shout, Yugi stepped into his friend's defense.

_And fail to see that love and anger do not make them weak. _He explained. Ryou's eyes widening in witness,

Determination an indignant anger fired Yugi's violet eyes until they brazed like bright amethyst jewels. "We'll handle this!" Furious fingers clenching the puzzle's chain.

_It makes them _stronger! Bakura's smirk curled into a silent howl of victorious laughter as the Pharaoh appeared: anger radiating off him in enraged waves and looking as fierce and determined as Yugi had moments earlier.

Ah, there it was…That _beautiful_ temper. Though not the one _he_ was accustomed to. No, this one compared better to a lioness defending her cubs: fierce, determined, resiliant and didn't care if it was a hyena, a hippo, or a king lion—all of them would fall to the ferocity and might of her claws.

And Yami's claws were twice as sharp.

Those very claws shredded Otogi at his own game with a weapon far more painful than nails: shame.

Put in his place by the King, Otogi remained silent, humiliated in his defeat.

Bakura could've laughed himself sick as everyone left.

It took it back. He and Ponytail would not have been friends. Or even rivals. Bastard, was just another pompous prick with his arrogant head stuck up his ass.

It was Bakura's first mistake.

X X X

Yugi wasn't outside waiting for them.

And he wasn't inside the store either—at least according to the store's security office who was being obnoxiously unhelpful and insisted Yugi had probably gone home.

No one believed that.

Their backs to a corner, the Old Man suggested heading to the Game shop to wait for him. With no other options the others agrees, but as Ryou stood on the sidewalk, casting one last forlorn glance at the Dark Clown, a sinister sense of uncertainly crept through him like the specter of a murdered girl attempting in vain to warn another about to repeat her fate.

Ryou shivered. _I have a bad feeling about this._

_You have good instincts, Hikari_. Bakura appeared at his side and there was a grave solemn expression that did not belong on the Spirit's normally carefree cocky face.

Something was wrong.

And his friends were in the middle of it.

* * *

Let me just say, Marik's segment was SO much fun to write! oh my God it took forever to finish because I could not stop laughing! oh my God the lengths this poor guy will go!

Seriously, its incredible how easy Marik and Bakura are to write! Bakura's part actually provided me with an opportunity i didn't originally consider-a way to bring Otogi into the story from Bakur's pv and show off that temper of Yami's we all know and love...

Few notes

1) The memory bouquet returns! This will continue to play a role in Yami's storyline

2) as stated above this takes place in Japan and the Japanese school year begins in April so this takes place on the last weekend in April. Japanese students also go to school half-days on saturdays and bussiness often open later on weekends because of this (hence Marik's problem). It also makes sense that Otogi and his dad would have their grand opening on a weekend day after the students were out of school (and in the manga Otogi's father confronts about being unable to defeat Yugi earlier that day so it adds up)

3) I'm just gonna come out and say it-Anzu is one og my fav characters. True i went up and down with her over the year and much of her antics to get Yami's attention at Yugi's expense in the seaosn 0 arc of the manga pissed me off but she came along way in duelist kingdom and she roved to be a much more strong willed and interesting character than her anime portrayal (4kids version at least since they screwed up everyone's dialogue not just hers) and i noticed very early in battle city her and Yugi's own crushes on each other seemed to dwindle and i found its more realistic when she's Yugi and Yami's friend and confidant rather than love interest. Not i don't imagine her getting with someone herself (I confess to being a Perserveshipper

4) Before anyone says it-I watch a lot of _Bones _and i figure it Mokuba can survive falling from the castle, crashing through a canopy and undergrowth of trees and survive intact Marik can definitely survive falling from the second story, through a bunch of cherry trees and landing in a bush.

See you next time!


	5. Chosen

So...apparently I cannot do anything with a deadline when it comes to creative writing...that said I've said screw it to the April prompt and am just letting my imagination go wild! the result...bangs this baby out last night! WOOOOO!

This is Bakura's point of view of the Dungeon Dice arc (which was split into the Dungeon Dice Arc and Dueling Alone in the anime which i think was the worst decision EVER!) Due to the importance of this segment on the plot many of the dialogue lines were take directly from or are paraphrased from the manga: Its obvious which ones are and I make no claim of ownership.

Disclaimer: This segment comes from volume 9 and 10 of the Yugioh Manga and belongs exclusively to Takehashi. I own nothing.

* * *

Chosen

The puzzle shattered to pieces. Yugi screamed.

X X X

Bakura was furious.

The ring pulses angrily in his hands its most southern point directed at the now closed shop.

"So... something happened to the Millennium puzzle." Rage shook his fingers. "I guess I'll have to do the King's dirty work again..."

Storms and shadows erupted around the building the closer he got confirming all Bakura needed to know. "I sense an ill omen around the Millennium puzzle...something bad must have happened to it."

That hideous clown mask smiled down at him waving a giant glove hand so sickeningly sweet and creepy Bakura felt obligated to all of mankind to blow the damn thing up and spare everyone the sight of its disgusting face. But he had bigger fish and an actual clown to fry if is theory was correct.

He huffed "What a needy King...still..."

Bakura looked down at his shadow watched as it moved and shifted until it was no longer the silhouette of a young man but something worse, something serpentine, something old and ancient and horned and powerful with eyes that glowed bright and angry and red as a cobra's.

"You know what to." Bakura ordered. "Go!"

The shadow nodded then sprang like a flash through the store.

"Oh Yugi what have you gotten yourself into," he sighed and shoved the doors open. The ring pulsed like an angry heartbeat. Faster and angrier as its inability to sense its counterpart increased. Damnit the Pharaoh better be alright! This wasn't part of his plan. The goal was for the Millennium items to _unite_ the fragments of memories that were once one mind. That wouldn't happen if anything happened to said mind

That was where Yugi came in.

As much as Bakura hates to admit it, he _needed_ Yugi or rather he needed him to wield the puzzle. After all, he was the only host the Pharaoh chose in 3,000 years. And the Pharaoh _did_ seem to like him. And his landlord was fond of him (and he _did_ promise).

For now the brat was useful which meant if any foolish idiot was really stupid enough to mess with him (and by default the pharaoh) then they would just have to go through him.

Exhibit A: the idiot guards that has been so enthusiastically unhelpful earlier that day. Now he understood why.

Bakura smirked. "Out of my way you human scum!"

X X X

Little Wizard died in a blaze of silver and blue smoke.

Yugi looked despondently down at the board. Only Duker of Twin Swords now stood between Orgoth the Relentless and his Dungeon Master. All his other monsters were gone. There was no room left for him to summon monsters. And Otogi still has two left.

Was he going to lose?

"Give up, Yugi," Otogi demanded, impressed as he was he's survived this long, it was time for this to end. He would win and he would inherit the Legend of the Millennium Puzzle and its powers. Even now he could see Yugi was breaking...and yet he still held onto the hope that he might win but it was a flickering candle now. Well, it was time to blow it out.

"Yugi," A victorious smile curled across his face "the Millennium Puzzle will be mine."

Bakura's proudest moment was when his cantankerous laughter wiped that undeserving smirk right off Otogi and his deadbeat clown dad's faces.

"Too bad for you, Otogi" he laughed, harsh and jagged. "You can't _handle_ the puzzle."

Bakura appeared in the door way to the surprise of all, standing cross-armed like an arrogant specter and he played the part well. "For the last 3,000 years only _one_ person has been able to wield the Millennium Puzzle...and that person is _Yugi_."

Bakura swaggered into the room. Ignoring Otogi's bark of annoyance. He fixed him with a smile cold and cruel with mirth. "Oh Otogi," he spat like a joke. "I can't believe someone of your level would actually believe he could use the puzzle," he chuckled, laughter dripping with sarcasm and barely controlled rage. "If I were you, I wouldn't even try. If you did you'd die. _Horribly_." That single word seethed with absolute conviction. And he felt a great surge of pride when the idiot flinched.

"Bakura?" Yugi gasped, recognition quickly settling in. Distrust and uncertainty clouded those dark violet eyes. Guess the kid wasn't as clueless as he looked. "Bakura...are you..."

Bakura smiled at him, an actual reassuring smile he'd only ever used with one other person. "Don't worry, Yugi, just as I promised Ryou I am not here to hurt you. I've turned over a new leaf, you see, so right now I'm your friend."

Yugi didn't trust him. It was obvious in the way his brows furrowed. No matter...

He looked at the board. Stroked his chin in thought.

"I see, you are in a pickle here. The odds are certainly stacked against you." He smirked, eyes glittering with all knowing glee. "But that doesn't mean you've lost."

He fixed a victorious smirk on Otogi, his smile curling when the boy leveled his gaze determined not to show fear even as uncertainty rippled off him. Time to put that undeserved arrogance in its place.

"Ryuji, listen and listen good. In the next few turns, Yugi will turn the tables on you..."

He met the boy's green eyes, the neutral line of his face.

Bakura's smile showed teeth and he had to restrain himself from laughing like a wild hyena. "Take a good look at the power of the Millennium puzzle's chosen host!"

Something like shock flickered in those ice green eyes. Good, Bakura thought. He wanted the Pharaoh's power so he'd let him see what he was getting himself into. Saved Bakura the trouble of having to murder him for that stupidity.

"Do you hear me, Ryuji?" He barked a short bite of laughter. "It's Yugi who'll win this game! Only one person can wield the Millennium Puzzle...and it's _not_ you!"

Yugi looked at him skeptically.

"Don't be afraid Yugi," Bakura said more gently though Yugi didn't mistake the brightness in his eyes for anything other than absolute cunning. "I told you I've seen the error of my ways. I'm your friend now."

It wasn't a complete lie after all.

Yugi's eyes narrowed.

"Heh heh...Still don't trust me?" Maybe it was time to fill the brat in on a few things. After all it could only help if it pushed the Pharaoh in the right direction. "Remember what Pegasus said at Duelist Kingdom? Well, he didn't tell you the whole story...each of the seven Millennium items are pieces of the puzzle of the pharaoh's memories." Surprise flashed in those big eyes but disbelief was still keen. "You and I have the same goal. We want to get your other half back. He and I..." oh how did he explain this without ending the game so soon? "We are partners sharing a greater consciousness...we can't exist without one another. What's there to fear about that?" He let that explanation lie.

He watched Yugi's focus return to the game though he still looked at a loss on what to do next.

Bakura frowned. _Come on, Yugi. You solved the Millennium puzzle...you should be able to find the one way out_.

Otogi found his bravado and chose that time to boast "You're both crazy!" He laughed puffed up with his own importance. "Not even Yugi can turn this situation around! Well Bakura I guess you usually hide your claws. I didn't know you were so familiar with the Millennium items but let me tell you one thing...the next bearer of the puzzle will be me!"

The arrogance of it made Bakura want to gag. It would be so easy to mock this one that there was no sport in it. Instead, he smiled like a snake and chortled "Your weak soul would burn to ashes the moment you wore the puzzle. No, even before that...I doubt you could even put it back together!"

His gaze flickered to the puzzle sitting in a puddle of its own pieces and it took all of his will not to tear Ryuji and his father to pieces. The shadows flickering about it glowed red like eyes blazing with protective fire.

"Brag all you like," Otogi grinned smugly and demanded Yugi take his turn.

Determination shown in Yugi's eyes.

_Come on_, _Yugi_. _Focus your mind on the dice_!

He watched the game unfold. Watched Yugi roll the dice and get the attack crests he needed to unlock his monster's secret power. Watched as Otogi selfishly sacrificed his monster to keep his prize. Watched as Yugi's final monster fell to Orgoth. Watched Otogi beam with premature victory as though he'd already won and felt vindicated when Yugi moves his deck master in a desperate attempt to stay in the game, only for Otogi to attack it next turn. Watched Yugi sink into despair once again while Otogi and the deadbeat clown celebrated their victory. Watched as the moronic old man held up the puzzle like it was a trophy, handed his son the pieces, the two him laughing and bragging how he would solve it right in front of them. Watched as Otogi tried solving the puzzle (emphasis on the word _tried_) and smirked waiting.

He didn't have to punish these two imbeciles for their ignorance and stupidity. The Pharaoh would do it himself.

"Haven't we been through this before?" Bakura sighed flamboyantly "You can't solve the puzzle."

That only made Otogi even more determined. Anger and pride always did make foolish men stupider.

"Then I'll just say this," Bakura's eyes glittered like a demon's "It's Yugi who will win this game."

That single statement was all it took. Yugi clenched his dice, examined the board for a way to turn this around. No ideas came. Otogi's confidence and concentration faltered as he failed to fit the puzzle's pieces in place. Beads of sweat poured down his face, his jaw tight with how hard he clenched his teeth and his forehead creased. His face rigid with stress. Good, Bakura grinned. He was breaking.

"I feel like a broken record," he laughed "Ryuji, you can't solve the puzzle," he practically sang it. "Only Yugi can."

Something clicked in Yugi's mind. Bakura's smile curled at the corners. And there it was: Yugi rolled the summons he needed and it unfolded and fit perfectly into the last remaining spot where he could summon a monster. The look on Otogi's face was priceless! The puzzle couldn't get away from him fast enough!

"Do you see now?" Bakura retorted his smile so wide it showed fangs. "Yugi solved the Millennium puzzle. You're little board game is nothing!"

But Otogi's pride wasn't ready to give up. "Sorry to rain on your parade, Yugi. Good job summoning a creature but how do you plan to fight with no weapons and zero attack points!"

He readied to attack with Orgoh, taking advantage of Yugi's doubt.

Bakura growled. He'd have none of this. "Yugi! Stop being a baby!" he scolded, harsh, but fair. "Stand up! This is another test for you...This is the King's final challenge to see if you are the true successor of the Millennium Puzzle!"

Curiosity transformed Yugi's face. "What do you mean "the king"?"

All the humor vanished from Bakura's face. If Yugi was going to win this then perhaps it was time for Yugi to learn the truth of his destiny. "Listen to me, Yugi. Only one person on earth can solve the Millennium Puzzle. Only one person is chosen for the duty of awakening the king's memories. That person is you." Yugi's eyes widened.

Bakura's voice became heavy with the gravity of his next words "I came here to make sure of that." Because if anyone, anything was going to drag the pharaoh down into the fiery pits of hell it was going to be _him_. Surprised by the declaration, Yugi couldn't help but wonder...

Mr Clown started laughing and it sounded like a maniacal psychopath. "Bakura was it? It's useless to kibitz! The Millennium puzzle goes to whoever wins this game! And if you take a look at the board you know the winner will be my son?" He did a victories happy dance.

Cold, silent rage consumed Bakura's face: eyes fired, lips peeled back in a snarl, his face a mask of frozen rage. Yugi saw it building inside, so black, so fierce like the fact that this man saw the puzzle and the spirit inside of it as a bargaining chip, as a vessel for power he could pass around and use as he saw fit, as though he had a _right_ to do so, was the single worse crime he could've ever committed. "Rot and die, old man." He said it so low, so dangerous as though he was uttering a curse.

But it gave Yugi the confidence he needed. And when Otogi overzealously attacked, Yugi activated his monster's hidden power and rolled just what he needed to defeat Orgoth once in for all.

His trump card gone and with no way of summoning another monster with his remaining dice, let alone one strong enough to defeat the Dungeon Master's Sword, Otogi collapsed in his chair, staring at the board and its outcome with a mixture of shock, horror, and disbelief but above it all: defeat. Pure and absolute defeat.

His anger subdued, Bakura grinned unsurprised "You're the chosen one, Yugi."

He volunteered to get the puzzle and left Yugi to deal with the morons. Otogi demanded to know why he fought so hard and was shamed by Yugi's passionate answer. As Otogi sat there humbled and humiliated, Bakura bent down under the guise of getting the puzzle and hissed like a spitting asp "Be grateful you lost, scum," Bakura let all his anger and hatred bleed into his voice. "A worthless piece of filth like you doesn't deserve the puzzle. Doesn't deserve _him_."

"Him?" Otogi squeaked shocked. He looked at Yugi who was busy gathering the gold pieces, held them so fondly like…like he was holding a lost friend.

Bakura laughed in his ear. "You really are as stupid as you look aren't you?" It was a whisper too low for anyone but Otogi to hear but it didn't make the words any less harsh. "Why do you think Yugi calls him his other half? What! Did you think the puzzle was just some hunk of magic gold? That winning it would make you his Master and he'd obey your every command like some wish granting genie?" The horror and humiliation on Otogi's face made it perfectly clear that _was_ what he's thought. All his life heal been raised on the stories of the Millennium puzzle, of its legends and magic. How whoever solved it would become the legendary King of Games and be granted ultimate power. Never once did he wonder what that power was or rather _who_ that power was. Where it came from. Never even bothered.

"I should kill you for that alone," Bakura hissed, gathering the Puzzle into his hands, stroking the chain with something that had Otogi not known better might have been...dare he say it, affectionate?

Bakura swaggered away, bothering only one last glance Otogi's way. "Now you know that Yugi is the true owner of the puzzle."

Bakura's smirk was as bright as it was malicious. "If someone with a weak heart like you tried to solve the puzzle. You'd just be trapped in a labyrinth of darkness." He said with a serpent's smile as though the idea pleased him. "You got away with your life this time, Ryuji."

_Bakura...who _are_ you?_ In that moment it was all Otogi wanted to know.

X X X

Bakura handed Yugi the puzzle and pieces with surprising gentleness. The shadow guardian curled at his their feet though it remained invisible to Yugi.

"It's up to you to put it back together" Bakura told him. "The Puzzle wants you to."

Determination fired Yugi's gaze.

Good, Bakura grinned and squeezed his hand around the last piece he'd swiped. Time for the real reason he came to save him. _Sorry, Yugi, but there are powers in that puzzle you don't know about. Powers your other self doesn't know about. When all the items are brought together the seal on those memories will be broken and his memory will be restored...and when that happens_...

Well, he already _knew_ what would happen. He hasn't waited three thousand years, seduced all matter of fools in a desperate escape to get away from that weasel Shadi and go through all this trouble just to sit on the sidelines and wait.

Now was the time for the pharaoh to actually start putting in effort to recover his lost memories. Time to start unlocking that power he had sacrificed himself to seal away. That _he_ had sacrificed _himself_ to get back.

_PARASITE MIND! Now _I'm _in there with you!_

"Ooops sorry," he apologized or at least tried to. "You missed one."

Yugi thanked him.

"My pleasure and now my job here is done."

He relinquished control back to Ryou and split his spirit between residing in the Ring and the piece he's given Yugi. It was a simple enough trick and now he had both incentive and a way to keep that needy king of his out of trouble.

He relaxed in his victory.

It was all falling into place now. And once Yugi solved the puzzle it would only be a matter of time until he and the Pharaoh started to question the power Otogi and his father were so desperate to achieve. To question the memories he himself had brought up. Yes, all the pieces were in place and now it was time for the Pharaoh to solve the puzzle of his past and Bakura would make sure he did just that!

"And with every piece you solve, pharaoh, will take you one step closer...to me!"

That was the moment that the Dark Clown Game shop erupted in flames.

* * *

Wasn't that just the BEST place to end this ;)

Next chapter will be Yami's pov during the Dungeon Dice Arc as well as a the aftermath of a few scenes that happened in this chapter ;) (it's already in production!)


	6. Hell's Fire: Shadow and Flame

About two weeks since my last update. Not bad. This chapter turned out to be a lot longer, more intense, dramatic, angsty and emotional than I planned but it was SO worth it!

Definitely see end for notes

Disclaimer: Based on the manga volumes 9 and 10 which belongs to Takehashi who should be nominated for sainthood and which 4Kids should suffer miserably for completely and totally massacring...anyway ideas are mine.

WARNING: Angst, character death, mentions of pyrophobia, and very intense emotional situations. Seriously, this one is not for the faint of heart

* * *

Hell's Fire: Shadow and Flame

Something was wrong.

Yami felt it. Felt it with every fiber of his being. He felt cold, alone and suddenly frightened.

Horror came with realization.

Yugi's warmth was gone. The light and love and warmth he felt through their bond was weak and vacant.

Not even during their duel against Pegasus did it feel this bad.

He ran for the puzzle's door, wrenched at the handle. He needed to check on Yugi, check on his soul room.

The door was locked. It was _never_ locked.

"Yugi!" Yami called out desperately.

"Yugi! Where are you!?"

He tried reaching out with their link but could only sense the slightest traces of Yugi's emotions: fear, confusion, shock, determination, terror!

Someone had taken the puzzle! Someone has _stolen_ the puzzle! Stolen _him_. Was challenging Yugi for _him_. For his power.

Yami felt sick.

But he also felt Yugi's determination. His will to fight. His desire to get him back at all costs.

No! Yami wouldn't give up! If Yugi could fight then so would he. If they wanted his Power they were going to have to fight _him_ for it, too.

Focusing all his power, all his strength Yami focused on Yugi on the presence of his kiind heart and courageous mind. Felt his strength wavering. And sent every ounce of encouragement he could through the fractured remains of their link.

Bold resolution fired back. And He heard the whisper of Yugi's voice.

"Other me, I _will_ get you back! I can't lose!"

It was the most beautiful sound Yami had ever heard.

X X X

Someone was touching the puzzle.

Those slimy, disgusting, vile fingers that before had only touched the chain were now touching the puzzle. Touching _him_.

It was the grossest feeling. The most repulsive, nauseating thing. It was awful. Vile. Wrong. It felt completely and utterly _wrong_.

And the worst part was he could do nothing to stop it.

Even as he kicked, screamed and tore, the walls around him felt claustrophobic and numb as though his body and being had betrayed each other and surrendered helplessly to hopefulness.

But Yami would not surrender. _Neveragain_ would he surrender. Not to the shadows. Not to the dark. Not to some ambitious, selfish, power-hungry maniac who _only_ want him for his power. Not to _anyone_ or any_thing_.

He froze, paralyzed by pain as though someone had reached into his chest and ripped out his heart. He reached out to check on Yugi but the Eye was gone.

Someone had _removed_ the puzzle's eye!

And then he felt the whole thing shatter.

Yami screamed.

Screamed at the feeling of a thousand needles piercing his body, completely numb to the outside world but feeling every spark of pain as the pieces hit the ground and it didn't stop until he felt them once more come together still separated but not scattered and that revolting touch finally gone.

He felt cold and numb absent Yugi's warmth and collapsed to the ground, his body exhausted from pain.

And then the shadows came.

The walls and stairs and rooms of the puzzle melted and morphed like a dispelled illusion revealing thick, oily black tendrils of shadow.

"No!" Yami screamed again throwing out the fragments of his power and shattered the coming darkness.

Not again. _Never_ again. He would _not_ go back there. He would _never_ go back there. _Ever_ again.

In answer to his determination and plea, lights burst from behind him, morphing and taking shape: quadrupedaled and lupine with fierce white fangs and untamed silver eyes.

"Silver Fang!"

Commanded by his name, the loyal wolf sprang forward savagely attacking the shadows all sharp claws and ferocious teeth. More lights burst behind him, colors of brown, white, purple, pink and turquoise: the Five Kuriboh Siblings! Boiling over with protective adamancy they opened their gaping maws, multiplied and attacked, a furious army of teeth and claws and fur and fury! The eldest and most loyal, the noble Kuriboh stayed behind to protect him, but even his brave little soul could not attack them all and when whips of shadows shoy forward catching the spirit by his wrist and ankles, Kuriboh bit and scratched and sawed valiantly with his claws and teeth but it did no good as the shadows started to pull and Yami felt himself being dragged.

Yami screamed again. This time in bold defiance.

Another creature came forward and with a flash of silver and a sheen like metal slicing through air he found himself tumbling free and crashing against something solid. Kuriboh held tightly in his arms. When he regained himself, the noble Celtic Guardian stood protectively in front of him smashing fearlessly at whips of shadow. But he could not defend and fight at once and so two more creature came forward and Yami found himself swept up by the motherly arms and long sleeves of the Mystical Elf casting protective chants as she kept her prince close to her. Behind her, a shadowy swoop a green color so deep it looked emerald black landed and spread its bat-like wings. Tuffs of green fur and mischievous golden eyes revealed the Feral Imp and true to its name, began attacking the shadows with all its wild, savage glory.

Roars echoed from overhead. Big blue wings and a ball of fire illuminating the darkness revealed the Winged Dragon. A gust of wind and a flash of skeletal gold and the Curse of Dragon joined the fight burning through the darkness with its fierce flames. Following it, Gia the Fierce Knight road in on his magnificent purple steed piercing Shadows with its powerful lance.

Still the shadows kept coming. Kept creeping. Closer and closer like half-buried corpses crawling out of their graves towards their prize: Yami. But his monsters would not let them have him. Wave after wave they fought: Feral Imp, Silver Fang and the Kuribohs with their teeth and claws, Winged Dragon and Curse Of Dragon with fire and flames, Celtic Guardian and Gia with sword and lance and Mystical Elf with defensive chants. Then the zombified shadows rise up becoming bigger, stronger, more monstrous. Still his monster's showed no fear.

The Mystic Elf changed her chant and suddenly with a ferocious fiendish roar like a dying shriek and a burst of lighting that electrified the shadow and reduced it to smoke and ashes, the Summon Skull burst forth. But the shadows would not give up and when it struck again determined to devour all his monsters and friends where they stood: _he_ came and with a powerful burst of dark magic that caused all of reality to freeze and shatter the shadows, he landed gracefully, all radiant armor and pillowing purple robes.

"Dark Magician!" Never in all his life has Yami been so happy to see his most adored monster. The Magician flashed him a confident smile in turn though tainted with playful scolding as if this was not the first time it had to come and save his beloved master.

They were all here.

All his monsters were here. Fighting to protect him. Their loyalty unquestionable and their determination absolute.

Yami's heart swelled and he thought he might cry, so overcome was he with gratitude. They formed an army between him and the still coming shadows. Refusing to back down while Mystical Elf protected their King and comrade.

And then the shadows echoed with sound: a harsh, grating mocking sound that sounded disturbingly like laughter. And then it did something even more disturbing: it spoke. _You foolish creatures! _That eerie, slimy, sinisterly high and melodious voice sent a shiver down Yami's spine. Mystical Elf pulled him closer. Her gaze fiercely maternal and ferociously protective. The embrace was so familiar but Yami could not place it.

_Do you really think you can defeat _me_! That you can stop _me_! That you can protect him from _me_! _

It laughed maniacally so violent and vicious that the very walls of the dark shadow realm the puzzle's interior had become shook and shuddered under it. Shadows suddenly rose like plague demons. And in the darkness two glowing demonic eyes appeared: yellow and putrid.

Those eyes looked into his with such pure hatred, such intense and adamant rage: Yami had never been so terrified in all his life. He welcomed the Mystic Elf's unyielding embrace and the way all his monsters suddenly crowded in to protect him.

The demon of shadows let all its rage and hate bleed into its voice. _I _will_ kill you, _Pharaoh. It spat like a joke_. Because _he. Is. MINE!

The realm shook and monstrous creatures of darkness, grotesque and gargantuan struck mercilessly and Yami watched in horror as one by one his beloved monsters fell trying to protect him. Curse of Dragon and Winged Dragon were ripped from the air by their wings, Feral Imp and Silver Fang overwhelmed by even more ferocious beasts tearing into their flanks. The Kuribohs did not give up even as their multiples fell quicker and quicker. Dark Magician struck out with his magic, Celtic Guardian fought close while Gia went long but then the largest and worsts is the brutes began ganging up on Summon Skull forcing the hulking giant to the ground even as his comrades fought to aid it. Mystical Elf threw up a shield around them all forcing the shadows back but they fought fiercely against it, killing themselves so others could pass. They attacked mindlessly, viciously, brutes with no will or purpose other than to destroy and they would destroy. Again and again to get to _him_.

Yami begged them not to fight but they would not listen, even Mystical Elf as she let him go and through all her strength into her shield even as she struggled under it.

Yami gasped. The strain...it was killing her!

"No! Please don't do this!" He begged determined not to lose her, knowing she was special to him somehow though he couldn't remember why. She only smiled at him and, using the last of her strength, throughout her shield. The shield expanded like a bubble and burst destroying anything it touched that was not her ally. The shadows disintegrated into dust but the victory was short lived.

She collapsed in a heap.

"No!" Yami cried out crawling over to her. The Celtic Guardian dropped to his knees at her side and Yami noticed something like tears glittering in his eyes. She offered them both a smile and whispered one last chant before her body evaporated into glittering dust like stars.

Yami burst into tears. The loyal Dark Magician was beside him. He looked around crying for his fallen friends: Silver Fang and Feral Imp, both wounded and dying; Summoned Skulk a fallen titan, limp and weak; Cuss of Dragon and Winged Dragon, their winged broken and their flames almost out. Gia and the Kuribohs stood beside them. Kuriboh placed a comforting green paw on his knee. Yami scooped him up into his arms and hugged him then cried in the Dark Magician's armored chest.

He never wanted any of them to die for him.

Laughter coming from the dark chilled his spine.

Yami shot up and the shock nearly stopped his heart.

The shadows.

They were healing themselves!

They were coming back!

Seeing them Celtic Guardian jumped up, roared and burst with an unstoppable energy! Empowered by grief and love and victory and vengeance, he struck them all down, taking strike after strike and refusing to slow! He would not go down fighting! He was going to win! He gave a protective battle cry in honor of his lost love and a new guardian came forward: a huge bulky black haired man holding an enormous shield: Big Shield Guardna! Yami remembered.

Silver Fang released a summoning howl, the Feral Imp a death rattle and with their final breathes before disappearing, two more beasts burst foreword: a massive lion-like animal and a bipedal demon with wings and horns and fierce yellow eyes. Gazelle and Berfomat. Suddenly, they merged together and in a burst of purple light a magnificent two-headed quadrupedal beast with massive wings joined the battle. Chimera, he remembered. He _remembered_.

As Curse of Dragon and Winged Dragon closed their eyes and vanished, Gia raised his lance and with a warrior's cry four bursts of lighting shot from the sky: four knights appeared, three young in matching armor, a king, a queen, and a Jack and a tall massively dragon- armored warrior brandishing a huge sword. The Buster Blader, Knight of Dragons and the King, Queen, and Jack's Knights!

From Summon Skull's sacrifice, he saw three robotic like creatures come forward then split apart and fuse themselves together into one powerful winged warrior: Valkyrian. Finally, beside Yami to the shock of both himself and the Dark Magician, a bubbly looking blond girl in a revealing pink and blue costume forced herself into the battle in an explosion of pink hearts. Her face made it clear she was determined to fight and no one would stop her, not even her Master.

Yami almost stumbled in shock when she kissed his cheek. He knew her. He _knew_ her, though he could not remember her name. Finally, Dark Magician and Gia shared a warrior's nod and in a burst of sacrifice evolved so that standing before him was the Magician of Black Chaos and the Black Luster Soldier. Even the Kuribohs found themselves fired and Kuribeh, Kuribee, Kuriboh, and Kuriboo surrounded their friend while Kuriboh gallantly led the charge.

It was then Yami understood. His fallen comrades had summoned new ones to continue their fight and the Mystical Elf has given them all one last gift: the power to become stronger.

But as he watched the army of new and powerful monsters fight, even Guardna who knew how to use its shield as both weapon and wall, the shadows kept coming and this monstrous demonic god determined to destroy him just kept laughing at their efforts.

It wasn't enough. Dread almost consumed him.

They were going to lose.

His fallen friends' noble sacrifice would be in vain and his remaining friends would fight until they fell.

He would lose them. He would never see Yugi again. All because there was something everyone knew, that he didn't.

His monsters retreated forming a defensive wall around him.

The shadows lingered closer, circling like sharks, making a mockery of their efforts then feared up to strike.

All the while, the demonic darkness laughed.

"Helical Shockwave!"

Light more beautiful than anything Yami had ever seen suddenly burst from behind him vaporizing the shadows with such force they shirked and screamed as they were vaporized.

Yami whirled around and saw an enormous winged shadow rise up behind him but she (somehow he knew she was female) was different from the others. For though he could only make out the massive shoulders and wings of her outline and the lights of her solid blue eyes and the long slithery snake of her tail something about her triggered something dormant inside him.

A memory.

A memory of sand and soldiers. Bandits and a battle and himself fighting on a cliff as two brutes attempted to attack him, his power sealed away but that did not mean he could not fight and fight he did. And her, the beautiful majestic monster whose power rivaled and reflected the land itself. Her saving him and someone's hand catching his wrist before he fell. He could not make out the face. He could not remember the identity. But what he did recall was Her and her master's pillowing burgundy coat...and sharp, smirking, lavender eyes.

He was brought back to the present by the massive serpent of her tail wrapping protectively around him but he was not afraid. His monsters did not react, even looked relieved—they recognized an ally when they saw one and continued the fight. Shadows fled in absolute terror of the strange goddess' power and might but the dark god roared in pure, primal fury.

YOU! It howled like thunder. YOU ACCURSED BITCH! HOW DARE YOU! YOU WILL NOT STOP ME! NOT THIS TIME!

The serpent tightened protectively around Yami, its snake head rearing up like a spiting asp, and the goddess clenched her glowing fists and delivered a ferocious punch to the glistening forcing him back to the bowels from wench it came, puncturing every punch: YOU. WILL NOT TOUCH HIM! YOU WILL NOT TOUCH EITHER OF _THEM_!

Releasing another powerful attack fueled with light, the demon screamed and retreated, cursing and chanting vengeance. Yami's remaining monsters charged in attacking ferociously and not stopping until the beast was gone, sealed away back into that deep, dark chamber from where it had been kept and locked away behind a maze of locks, doors and traps.

Slowly then, the walls of the labyrinth started to reform and come back together. The battle was over. His monsters were safe. A new guardian had helped protect him. Relief so fierce and strong Yami nearly collapsed from it overcame him.

The serpent tail loosened her grip, forming a sort of near around the exhausted king. His monsters new and old surrounded him and for a moment he felt the spirits of his fallen friends hovering in the air, as if coming to tell him they were safe. They would be alright.

Yami put all his strength into his smile. "Thank you. All of you."

And he passed out.

X X X

Fire.

Heat.

It was the first thing Yami felt as he shot awake. The puzzle restored in all its strength, and Yugi's familiar warmth wiping away the memory of all others.

Yugi had done it!

He'd saved him! He'd restored the puzzle! Their bond was back and Yami threw himself into it determined to tell his Aibou and friend he was alright.

He felt Yugi's relief and love through the bond. He saw Yugi's expression through the Puzzle's eye: heartbreaking relief.

Yami almost cried from sheer joy, but something was wrong. Yugi looked exhausted: his face was pinched, his eyes weary, his skin pallor, his breathing hard as if he was struggling to do so and his lids looked so heavy it was a momentous effort to keep them open.

"Heat..." Yugi moaned. "Dizzy." Yugi collapsed and that was when Yami saw it: fire. Roaring, riveting red tongues of fire licking at every surface like the tongues of some horrible beasts. Tendrils of crimson burst and roared hungrily, consuming everything in its path like the flames themselves were a living thing growing stronger and more monstrous with all it devoured…and it had set its appetite on Yugi.

Yami screamed again, telling, begging, pleading with Yugi to wake up. To run! To escape and leave him because nothing was worth Yugi's young life. But Yugi's will was strong, even consciousness, and no matter what his friends tried, Yugi would not let go of the puzzle.

Yami gasped. There all his strength into a single word. "Jonouchi!"

Yami watched their friend gasp at his name, become inspired by it, let it clear his mind and form a plan to save he and Yugi both. Watched as it worked and watched as Jonouchi carried Yugi through what could only be described as the fiery pits of hell and outside into the light and relief of their friends.

Watched as Yugi was taken to a place called "The Hospital" for treatment. Relaxed when the healers called "doctors" in this time told them he would be alright and allowed him to keep his puzzle since it was so important to him, stunned that the heated chain had not left any burns.

Yami all but collapsed in relief once again but instead dashed again to the soul room door.

It practically swung open and their standing directly across from him in his own open doorway to his soul room, was Yugi.

They both looked exhausted and a little worse for wear but otherwise alright. Tears came to Yugi's eyes and he practically threw himself into Yami's already opened arms. They fell to the ground together wrapped in a fierce hug so tight and needed as if the other would disappear forever if they let go.

They didn't hold back their tears: tears of grief and sadness and loss and apology and heartbreaking relief and love.

Yugi sobbed apologies over and over and Yami crying "Don't ever like that again!" For nothing, not the loss of his monsters, the fear of the shadows nor that horrible darkness that had once held him captive nor that demonic shadow god whatever it was, none of it scared him more than the terror of losing Yugi.

"I'm so sorry!" Yugi wept. "I'm sorry I was so careless and..."

Yami pulled him back met Yugi's eyes with fierce loyalty "Don't you dare blame yourself for this, Yugi. Don't you dare!" He said it without doubt or hesitation. "This was not your fault."

He hugged him again and they both cried holding each other in their arms. Yugi explained what had happened. Explained the Otogis' relationship with his grandpa and the puzzle. How it shattered. Yami explained what happened when the puzzle shattered. The shadows that attacked and their monsters who fought and fell valiantly protecting him. Yugi burst into tears and together they mourned their fallen comrades: grateful for their sacrifice and grieving their loss. Yugi vowed that when they returned from the puzzle together they would make a new deck both to honor their fallen friends and welcome the new ones who'd saved Yami. True, the deck had originally been Grandpa's but he generously gave it to them claiming their cards' hearts had already bonded with Yugi and his spirit, and they had proved that today. Yugi would get all their names and ask Grandpa if he would get them for him, somehow. But for now it didn't matter. Because none of it mattered. They were back together and that was the most important.

They didn't notice the sharp set of lavender eyes watching them from behind the shadows.

X X X

Bakura collapsed against the stone wall so full of relief he feels sick from it. The only reason Ryuji and his father are still alive and not mad, raving shells is because there would be no point: Ryuji already scolded his father and the man was nearly mad under the weight of his own shame—and in the case of the old man, the puzzle beat him to it. But even if it hadn't it would not have mattered.

She returned to him then, fused with his shadow and her warmth was a comfort he could not begin to thank her for, but he did anyway.

"Thank you." He looked back to the Pharaoh still clinging tightly to Yugi even though they'd both passed out. She is the only one he would ever utter those words to.

She replaced his shadow. Nods, her blue eyes bright.

"Is _he_ locked away?"Bakura hissed refusing to even honor him with his name.

She nodded.

"Good," he sighed and closed his eyes but his vision was consumed by memories. Memories of shadow and fire and flame and screams and burning corpses and the melting face of that hideous clown while two boys and a third trapped inside a puzzle fought their way out of hell.

It was the only thing he truly feared.

Fire had taken everything from him once and it had almost done so again. Almost.

Damnit, now he actually owed Jonouchi a debt.

"This cannot happen again." He stood looked at his shadow, into her bright burning blue eyes. "I will not let it." She nodded in agreement.

* * *

Oh man, this one was an adventure to write but again it was totally worth it! I'd started it a week ago and finally finished it today when work stress got to me...  
Originally, I only planned on having a few of Yami's monsters helping him fight the shadows but as i started getting into his duelist kingdom monsters vs his and Yugi's battle city monsters I realized with a heavy heart just how many of my favorite monsters were replaced in the second season. Special shout out to Silver Fang, Feral Imp, Cure of Dragon, Winged Dragon Guardian of the Fortress, Summoned Skull, Curse of Dragon and, of course, the Mystical Elf...halfway through writing this (and based off the hospital episode in the manga) where Yugi mentions that during his three day stay at the hospital, he and Yami built a new deck together) this was my explanation why certain monsters were removed and replaced with others and how Celtic Guardian become Obnoxious Celtic Guardian-I have a head cannon of the Mystical Elf and Celtic Guardian being together and you can declaim that headcannon over my cold, dead, rotting carcass!  
Also shout out to the Mystical Elf for having an awesome power! Seriously, I checked the manga! she had the ability to transfer her own attack power to other monsters IN THE MANGA! WHY DID THEY NOT MAKE THAT HER POWER IN TH GAME!

Anyway...LOTS OF FORESHADOWING and important bits this chapter! I strongly recommend reading it more than once to get them all ;) There is so much i wanna say about this chapter and yet i can't. Not yet ;) so PLEASE any theories or guesses on who the shadows were though i think its pretty obvious send them all my way!

Next chapter is in production and my goal is to get one updated per week so be on the look out for another one later this week!


	7. Midnight

WOOOOOO! I'm so proud of how fast I got this chapter up! the next one will be up Monday! It's already pre-written!  
I was super happy to write this one. After that last chapter I thought our four boys needed something romantic and touching.  
This segment was loosely inspired by GoddesRouge9's Malik in Love Segment Midnight Visit, because I thought the idea of Marik visiting Yugi in the hospital while he was recovering was too cute to pass up! And another excuse for Bakura to mess with our favorite pharaoh ;)

Disclaimer: Based on the manga series that belongs to Kazuki Takehashi he owns the story and characters and i am offering an alternative extension.

Quick Note: I edited the title because I decided to do this in three parts though they will all be in this same story. The first part is called Entering the Dark, the Second will be called Echoes of the Past and the third part will be called either Dawn of the Shadows or Return of the Shadows (leaning towards the first but haven't decided yet) When each new part starts I will edit the title and the summery. I haven't decided but I think Echoes of the Past will begin with the Battle City Finals post Yugi and Possessed Joey's duel.

As always read, review, reply, critique, comment, post theories and go nuts ;)

* * *

Midnight

Marik was furious.

Absolutely enraged! He stormed vehemently through the giant white healers' building apparently called a hospital, shamelessly getting the information he needed with the Rod and ignored anyone else who dared get in his way. He didn't care that visiting hours were over. He didn't care that it was the middle of the night and everyone wanted to go home.

All he cared about was Yugi.

24 hours.

One freaking day!

That was all it had taken for everything to go straight to the fiery pits of hell—literally! Not Amit's bowels, not the damned abyss, thank Ra, but the fiery pits of hell!

24 hours and in that time hoping for a nice evening at the Black Crown Game Shop with his friends, his beloved Yugi had been separated from his foolish friends, kidnapped, had the puzzle stolen, fucking _shattered,_ and was forced to duel the Otogis as they were called for it in a fixed game he knew nothing of (as if those greedy, worthless amateurs could _ever_ be worthy of the King's power), and even though his beloved had won (though Marik expected that as was the unparalleled wisdom, strength and determination of his darling), the old goat had kidnapped Yugi again, attempted to face him in a Devil's Game and failing set the whole damn building being set on fire, forcing his beloved to risk his life solving the shattered Millennium Puzzle once again, while the freaking building was burning down! Almost getting killed in the process! All in a desperate attempt to restore that worthless parasitic pharaoh!

Marik was absolutely livid!

And now his beloved Yugi was in the hospital recovering from minor burns, extreme heat exposure and smoke inhalation (blessedly, all his wounds were minor and the doctors he'd possessed assured him Yugi would make a full recovery, though the doctors still planned on keeping him a few days for rest and observation).

The worst part about the whole thing? Marik had _slept through it_! He had purposely chosen to ignore the fact that the reason he'd slept through it was because he'd fallen out a second story window when his plans to leave his beloved another love note derailed and led to the possibility of him being caught caused him to sneak out the window and fall from said second story window through a Sakura tree and landing in a bush. He couldn't even be angry when Rishad pounded on his door until he rose begrudgingly from slumber. All his murderous impulses abandoned him when Rishad explained it concerned Yugi and what had happened. Unquestionably loyal, his brother. He debated using the Rod to drive Otogi and his father insane but relented because Yugi now considered Otogi a friend and he _did_ help save him and was disgruntled that the puzzle beat him to it with the old man. No point in driving the man crazier than he already was besides Yugi was more important. And his beloved needed him.

He finally came to the numbered room the possessed front desk woman told him was Yugi's and went inside.

He didn't know someone was already there.

X X X

Bakura looked down at Yugi's sleeping body but his eyes are locked on the puzzle gripped tightly in Yugi's hand.

A small part of him wondered if he should check on that brat Pharaoh again. It took too much energy to keep his spirit split evenly between the Ring and the puzzle piece and Ryou only had so much. Damnit. Such a needy King! Always needing his Royal ass saved! Sure, he was strong—dare anyone to say he wasn't—but even strength could deplete...

The memory of the Pharaoh and his brat came to mind and something sharp pricked at Bakura's heart. He supposed he should be grateful for the brat if only for that.

Still...

So much had happened. So much had changed.

And he knew better than anyone the worst was yet to come. But the King would not fail.

His eyes fell once more on the puzzle and tenderly stroked the outline of its eye, smirking when he felt it warm even glow under the familiar touch. He smirked.

No, Yami would not fail, he thought grinning.

_He_ would make sure of it.

Sharp ears caught a shadowy wisp of sound and he whirled around. Someone was coming!

Who the hell was coming at this time of night? How the hell did they even get in? How bad was the security in this place? Bakura himself was a thief and knew how to sneak in the night?

Not taking chances. The spirit of darkness slid into the shadows behind the curtains and waited. The intruder arrived in a swirl of dark purple shadows and a click of gold chains. He pulled down his hood and a mane of pale bond hair and richly tanned skin a shade lighter than the burnt ocher Bakura himself once had in a past life, spilled out. Bakura recognized him immediately as the brat's Romeo stalker and swallowed an exhale of relief. Just when he though he'd had something to worry about.

He supposed he shouldn't be surprise. Idiot probably had the same idea Bakura had and wanted to make sure his precious obsession was alive and well. All the better for Bakura.

He was about to set down his gift and leave when something he never expected happen.

The Ring was glowing.

The Millennium Ring was _glowing_!

Why the Hell was the Millennium Ring glowing?

Unless...

A horrible thought came to Bakura's mind and he removed the Ring from inside Ryou's shirt but kept its light shadowed by his black trench coat. Just as he feared, the two left points that should have been dangling were pointed, straight and parallel and diagonally. Towards the interloper.

It was then Bakura remembered _two_ Millennium items were still unaccounted for.

_Who the fuck is this kid_!

Bakura scrutinized him one last time: found his moping eyes fixated on Yugi's sleeping form and not the puzzle. When he did spot the puzzle it was with a look of pure hatred as if blaming it for Yugi's current predicament, but otherwise made no move to take or claim it, so transfixed was he on Yugi.

_Good_, Bakura thought. For now he wasn't a threat. Whether or not he would become one in the future remained to be said. For now, he decided he would regroup and come up with a new plan and if the fool _was_ an item holder than it would be easy to take it from him.

This could even work in his favor. Bakura smirked a new plan already forming in his mind. Sleek and silent as the shadows he left his offering and slipped out of the room with a silent swoop that would make any hunting predatory cat envious.

He would let the lovers be for now and if the fool _did_ try something...well, Bakura chuckled. He would just learn the hard why one should never ever get on the Pharaoh's bad side. Especially when he was being protective.

X X X

Heartbreaking relief.

It was the only way to describe the emotion Marik felt when he saw Yugi asleep in his hospital bed.

His angel was asleep, drained and exhausted. Tiny bandages on his cheeks where he'd been scratched or scrapped and his hand had been bandaged in case of burns. But he was alive.

He was _alive_.

He looked so fragile like this, so helpless. It made Marik want to hold him, protect him, shelter him, take him into his arms right now and hide him away somewhere where he could be pampered and shielded and never be hurt like this ever again. But he vanquished the thought as soon as it entered his mind. For his angel was not some docile porcelain doll who would be happy being spoiled with gifts and pampering. He was smart and strong and courageous and resilient and he would fight for what he believed in and (as much as it bristled Marik to accept that he believed in and fought for that parasite false pharaoh whose fault this was and death glared the puzzle he was currently hiding in), his pure heart would not give up.

This incident was only proof of that.

And while those qualities might put Yugi in danger they also only made Marik love him more. An ibis, even one that made its home in the temple, did not stay cooped in a cage but soared high in the sky, skimmed across the pond, free and only coming to heel when it chose to and never apologized for it. One did not tame the Nile but acknowledge its rise and flow and appreciated its glittering surface knowing well the savage crocodiles and territorial hippos lurked beneath. A Lotus was not beautiful because of its lovely soft petals and golden heart but the fact that that sweet delicate flower climbed its way out of the darkness of the mud and water to reach the sun and repeated the cycle. That was his Yugi. His beautiful, wonderful, strong-willed, kind-hearted, indomitable and tenacious Yugi. His pure-hearted Angel. _He_ deserved to be Pharaoh not the parasite. If _he_ were Pharaoh Marik would happily, even proudly serve him, aid him. He deserved so much more than this life.

Reaching over, Marik brushed a stray gold bang from that sweet, sleeping face and tucked it behind his ear. His heart swelled when Yugi shifted in his sleep. He gave a slight moan then a smile pulled at his lips. Marik almost died on the spot. His heart burst then regrew then burst again at least six times in the span of fifteen seconds.

He had never been this close to Yugi before.

He could only observe so much from the shadows and distanced himself both out his own shyness and respect for his beloved, but here, now, so close, close enough to touch, and Yugi was so cute. It would be rude to steal a kiss from him when he was vulnerable like this and yet...

Marik braced his hand on the bed, wove something between those sleeping fingers and leaned forward to press a gentle kiss to Yugi's cheek instead. His lips barely brushed Yugi's skin when the Millennium Puzzle roared to life flowing as hot and furious as a desert sun.

Marik cursed and dashed toward the heavy curtains of the window intending to hide but the moment his hands hit the window and looked down, reminding him that _this_ time he was at least four stories up and jumped back landing on his ass and made a mad dash for the door.

_No. No! _NO_! I am _not_ doing _that_ again!_

He crashed out the door and slid into the hallway hiding in the shadows and grabbed the tail of his cloak when he saw it was still in the doorway. He dared not look back but knew that blasted Pharaoh was no doubt awake in the room, jealously guarding Marik's beloved like a fantasy drake guarded its jewels.

Marik seethed, absolutely furious. How dare that selfish greedy bastard ruin everything! Hadn't he caused Yugi enough trouble already?

Marik swallowed a snort.

His habibi truly did deserve more in this life. He deserved to be loved and cherished and admired and to have all the world know of his quiet strength, kind confidence and beautiful heart.

His lips tingled with the memory of Yugi's soft lotus petal skin on his lips. The sweet taste of fruit and sugar and candied lemons.

Marik's resolve sharpened tenfold.

He would give Yugi that life. He would defeat that parasite false pharaoh and make Yugi his _Queen_. Not some shield or vessel to be shut away or sidelined. Not his wife, or consort, but _Queen_: Lord of Two Lands (or the world), his equal in every way. Yugi would wear his crown, sit on his throne and rule beside him: they would rule this world together.

Giddy excitement galvanized him to his core.

_Soon my love_, Marik whispered casting one last glance at his lover. Just as he expected the parasitic Pharaoh stood watching like a territorial guard dog and looking unsettled by the note and flower laced in Yugi's free hand. Marik smirked. Triumphant with pride. Let his rival know he was being challenged. Let him feel threatened.

_Battle city will begin soon and then I'll have plenty of chances to win your heart and crush your capture_. Marik giggled overcome with delight as he slipped into the shadows.

"I can't wait to meet you officially, my sweet angel."

He didn't notice Bakura slipping out of the shadows arms crossed and shaking his head, watching the love-struck idiot as he literally bounced down the hall. "What a dolt."

X X X

Yami scanned the room, sharp-eyed and with merciless scrutiny over every shadow and wisp of wind for any sign of a threat. Just like their cowardly enemies to attack Yugi while he was recuperating.

_Over my dead body!_ Yami clenched his spectral fists.

After a thorough investigation of the space, the spirit deemed it safe but nonetheless remained diligent as Yugi rested. He sat himself down on the bed, offered Yugi a reassuring smile and ran a phantasm hand through his soft hair. It didn't do much but he hoped the soft touch was comforting and his heart swelled when he saw Yugi smile.

It was then he saw the note wrapped in Yugi's hand tied to some odd flowers he did not recognize. It was not the first time Yugi had received them, but how on earth did it get _here_? He'd noticed the affectionately shy way Yugi would press them into his school book, the bashful awkward way Yugi blushed and changed the subject whenever he'd asked about them. At the time he had not wanted to invade Yugi's privacy even with his concerns over this _Khazamaa_, but now? Was that who had left the flowers and the note? Yugi's secret admirer as Anzu called him? If so then how did he get in here?

Yami shook his head and stood. He was being paranoid, he knew. It had been an awful two days. He and Yugi has spent most if not all of it in his soul room comforting each other before they decided they both needed a rest. Even so, after all that happened Yami's emotions were a rapid storm.

He ran a hand through his own hair and leaned against the night stand. His fingers brushed something and he jumped back, spun.

His eyes widened.

"Yami?" Came Yugi's sleepy voice. "Are you okay?"

Yami composed himself, quickly but did not avert his eyes. "Yes. I'm sorry, aibou, I thought I heard a noise but I was mistaken. I did not mean to wake you."

"It's okay," Yugi yawned and rolled over. "You get some sleep too, okay."

Yami nodded and returned to the occupant of his gaze.

Behind him, Yugi was just about to return to sleep when he registered something laced between his fingers. His eyes widened and he swallowed a gasp so not to worry Yami. The flowers this time were a combination: one was shaped like two different sizes five pointed stars in different shades of purplish blue like his eyes, a stalk of tiny clustering golden flowers and bright golden suns with feathery petals for sunshine: Starflower for courage, Goldenrod for strength and Dandelion for overcoming hardships. The note was simple but loving: _I'm sorry you were hurt my Angel. I regret even more I was unable to help you. May these flowers assure you of my love for you and hope that you recover quickly. I hope to meet you face to face soon until then stay safe and get well—Khazamaa._

It made Yugi's heart swell. The curiousty of how his admirer found out what happened and how he'd managed to come here was only half as powerful as the touching affection that he'd taken the time to do so.

Something cool prickled Yugi's cheek and he brushed his fingers over it, wondering. He smiled then and cast a loving glance towards the charm bracelet hidden among his things in the basket beneath his night stand. He placed the flowers on his nightstand and fell asleep clutching the note close to his heart.

Beside him, Yami sat eyes transfixed on the small pot sporting a colorful bouquet of tubular stems bursting tall pyramids of bell shaped flowers. The note that bore his name read _Snapdragons for strength when you feel your own is depleting..._

No signature. Just like the last one.

But what struck him was the flower tied around the stems: held their by thin tendrils of roots, the flower itself bloomed with a thousand tiny petals open like a daisy revealing a golden heart and its color a blue so deep and beautiful it looked violet.

When he reached out to touch it, it felt soft and solid between his phantom fingers.

A memory bloomed to life behind his eyes. A memory of scorching suns and wide desert dunes. A cool cave made up like a home. Someone leading him by the hand. Burnt ocher skin from a lifetime living beneath Ra's strength. The wide sleeved burgundy coat covering _His_ arm. The face shadowed and obscured. A beautiful waterfall filling a sunlit pool where those same flowers rose from the darkness and bloomed to life.

He stumbled back, stunned.

It was then he recognized and remembered what it was. A water lily. A _blue_ water lily. Specifically, and Egyptian Blue Water Lotus.

It was Yami's favorite flower.

* * *

Marik stole a kiss and Yami witnessed another memory all while our favorite thief is watching and manipulating from behind the scenes!  
Man this things was fun to write!  
Little note, Marik's descriptions of Yugi i actually changed because the original ones (which included a hawk, desert and fire) I felt fit Atem's boldness better where as Yugi's strength is quieter and beneath the surface: a warrior with a Pharaoh's heart hidden beneath the face of an angel ;)

And the return of the language of the flowers!  
To be honest i was hoping I'd be further along in the Captive and the Cobra before I posted this segment but, oh well, foreshadowing for Intertwined Part 1!


	8. Affections Touching Across Time

Sorry for the delay in this update its been a draining week for me...

For those who may not remember i originally posted this as a one-shot a sort of semi-prequel to this story but decided it fit MUCH better chronologically into this series especially since in the original series Seto and Ishizu met while Yugi was recovering in the hospital.

So, this taking place just before Ishizu meets with Kaiba to give him Obelisk and takes place from Ishizu's pov, however it includes a flashback scene from the anime episode 60 (the Japanese one) where Ishizu confronted Marik after he stole Ra and we get the truth behind his motivations. And yes, I borrowed the title from the Inuyasha movie...it just fit.

This idea came to life from one of the many unanswered questions of the series: if Ishizu knew what was going to happen with her brother, Seto, Atem etc. why didn't she do anything? (i mean for the longest time her holier than though attitude annoyed the hell out of me i won't lie, but as an older myself i couldn't just believe this whole "acceptance of fate" thing she was going with and especially given how dramatically her personality changed after her duel with Seto, and how she become more hopeful...it made me wonder what if just before all this happened, she knew EXACTLY what the outcome would be getting a little bit of a hint like the duel with Joey the necklace showed Atem and Yugi before their duel with Kaiba? but if that was true than how and why since it was made perfectly clear the necklace was sketchy at best...this is my thoughts ;)

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Yes, title was borrowed from the first InuYahsa Movie

WARNING: Mentions of past abuse, Self-doubt, depression, hopelessness, etc.

Contains spoilers for the manga and Japanese anime (I strongly suggest reading/watching both if you've only ever seen the 4kids version)

* * *

Ishizu Ishtar bringing the mortuary palette to Domino City and giving Seto Kaiba the third god, Obelisk, was the catalyst for the Battle City Tournament and the Millennium Battle of the 20th century, knowing it would lead to her beloved younger brother's downfall and set in motion a chain of events once started could never be stopped—and whose outcome even she cannot see, no matter how much she wishes.  
As Her meeting with Kaiba grows closer, doubt and anxiety begins to consume her and she begins to have second thoughts—until an unexpected vision arrives from an old friend whose heart has always been hers.

* * *

Affections Touching Across Time

The God Obelisk was heavy in her hand.

She stood alone in the museum's off exhibit wing where the palette of the Millennium Battle looked over her like a foreboding ghost refusing to rest.

Seto Kaiba would be here soon. Her taunk had shown her. Just as it had shown her the outcome of this fated meeting and the events that would follow it: all leading to a new Millennium Battle, and a new clash of the Gods and a new test of Kings. All concluding the the final confrontation between the soul of the Nameless Pharaoh and his courageous chosen against the ultimate darkness

Tears stung her eyes.

Marik.

The Tomb keeper who'd betrayed his family legacy.

The fearsome leader of the Rare Hunters who hunted for the God Cards like a starving lion hunted antelope.

The boy whose long held suffering at the hands of destiny and Fate had consumed him and led him down a dark path to seek the title and power of King himself.

Her brother.

Guilt flooded her heart and her neutral mask and demeanor cracked. She was glad for the seclusion of this off exhibit room away from the prying eyes of museum associates and antiquity guards.

Here, in this space, within these walls away from prying eyes and expectations and destiny she was not Isis, dutiful daughter of the Ishtar clan whose only purpose was loyalty to her father and clan. Not Ishizu the Head of Egypt's Antiquity division who rose the ranks through knowledge no living person could or should possibly know. Not the reincarnation of an ancient priestess whose duties she'd unwittingly and unwillingly inherited. Here she was just Ishizu, just a woman who'd lost everything and was about to set in motion the chain of events that would ruin all that she had left.

The God card burned on the pocket against her breast, a cruel reminder of what she must do and what she was powerless to stop.

The glimpses of the future the millennium taunk offered were hazy at best, but the turning points were clear: the Millennium battle would be fought again on the streets of Domino City; the reincarnated chosens of the past would arrive to compete for the title of King; the Nameless Pharaoh, however content he was with his circumstances would be forced to fight, ignorant of the role he was about to play and its importance his kind-hearted chosen and those he had come to call friends would all become pawns and weapons in a dangerous game; and his fate would intersect with that of her brother who was driven to destroy him.

It was unfair of her to do this to him, to any of them. The King had already suffered enough in his past life according to the ancient scriptures. He deserved a second chance to live in peace after such a sacrifice as his name, life and memories. And yet here she was about to force him once again into the heart of danger, into a battle that should not be is, like the very thought of his happiness was some sick joke.

Were the gods truly so cruel as to repeat the suffering of others over and over again for their own amusement just with different players?

The Museum curator spoke nothing but fondness for the King's chosen, a young man named Yugi, and his friends. They called the King friend. They cared not for his past, or glory, or status. Friends who truly loved the king for who he was—it was a luxury he'd been denied in his past life, when things like friendship and affection were seen as a weakness in a man meant to embody the Gods. Was it truly right of her to do this to him? To them?

She wished she knew, but every time she looked into his future: his, her brother's, the world's, it showed only the same vision. A Shadow Game between the Pharaoh and her brother completely consumed by darkness and whatever remained of the brother she loved, limb and lost as a broken doll; the boy who was the King's chosen all but consumed by shadows, the world surrounded in darkness. The vision did not change. Sometimes she would see a fifth figure lurking in the shadows though she could not see his face. Sometimes she saw the horrified faces of his friends and sometimes even Kaiba was there. But the primary vision never changed.

If she set in motion these events, if she did what the Taunk told her, if she gave Obelisk the blue god to Kaiba then she would lose her brother for good and the lives of too many innocents would be destroyed.

She collapsed against the stone. Pain erupted from her chest in a way so fierce she knew her heart was breaking. Tears stung her eyes and an elegant hand rose to cover them. The other braced against the stone was weakening and barely able to hold her up. Instead she allowed herself to fall, for her knees to hit the stone and just, if only for a moment, surrender.

She couldn't do this.

She _wouldn't_ do this.

She _refused_ to do this.

There was still hope for her brother after all. Marik was misguided, not evil. His pain and hatred had merely twisted his beliefs and turned him against the Pharaoh as a means of coming to terms with his grief. It was understandable. No one knew the extent of his suffering more than she did. Surely he understood that?

Memories of her last encounter with Marik, the last one before she came to Domino and he all but vanished her from his life, came flooding back to her in a wave of doubt.

_She waited for Marik outside the tomb where the avatar of Ra slept. He exited the cavern a moment later dawning the long purple robe and hood of the Rare Hunters, the god card in hand. _

_He did not notice her at first, then his gaze found hers. She kept her serene face level, her long fingers folded calmly before her. She betrayed no emotion, but even she could not stop the hope fluttering within her eyes._

_"Sister," he said and his voice belonged to her brother not the leader of the Rare Hunters. His lavender eyes locked with hers, hesitating, waiting._

_"Is this how you spit on our ancestors, Marik," she chastised him but there was nothing accusatory in her voice. Only sadness. "Our family has protected the Valley of the Kings for nearly 3,000 years. You're wasting the sacrifices of our ancestors with this—"_

_"They sacrificed for what?" Marik cut her off, words laced with indignant determination. "For a king who never came!? For a man who knows nothing of kingship and less of our family's suffering?" He snapped full of anger but beneath the rage, she both sensed and heard his pain. "Someone had to get rid of this tradition, Isis. Someone had to set us free. I will gather the three God Cards and acquire the title of Pharaoh, and finally free our family from this cursed destiny."_

_It took everything in her not to flinch, knowing all too well what their "cursed" destiny entitled. What it had entitled of _him_._

_Her hands clenched at her sides as she steeled herself, powered by her own resolve she countered. "You're _betraying_ our family!" She wrung her fingers, not yet willing to surrender. "Please, brother, stop this. There is still time to undo this. Help me find the Pharaoh, once he has united the gods and regained his memories then our family's duty will be complete. We can still be free."_

_"We'll never be free, Isis." His tone brokered no room for argument. "Not as long as we are servants to another. Why should I pledge myself to some unknown savior. Why should _you_, when we could claim that power that is rightfully ours and finally free ourselves from this fate and build a better world as a result. A world where there is no need for such slavish duty." His eyes met hers again: bright with righteous determination and hazy with love. "You cannot stop me, Isis." The words were a fact as well as a plea._

_With it the last hope she had of convincing her brother to end this madness evaporate like mist in the desert._

_"I cannot let you past, Marik." She steeled herself._

_Her eyes flashed when he raised the Millennium Rod. "Step out of my way, Isis."_

_With a Herculean effort she kept her face serene, betraying the anguish clutching her heart like sharp, poisonous claws. _

_"You would uses your Millennium Rod on me, Marik?" The words were a plea not a challenge. _

_He did not take it as one._

_"I can if it's for our family's future. Even on you, sister."_

_With a flash of pale golden light, she knew no more._

Her chest burned now as fiercely as it had then. She had woken up alone in the desert only a few moments later, Marik's footprints and motorcycle tracks still fresh. It was a testament of the love he still had for her that he merely put her to sleep, and even then only long enough for him to escape—but the anguish of that action hurt nonetheless. Two months and the ache it had caused had not sustained.

Even without her taunk telling her so she knew: the Pharaoh's destiny and her brother's were intertwined and there was nothing she could have said to him that would stop it.

_But there is something that can._

Some cold, dark part of her taunted.

Subconsciously. Her fingers slipped to Obelisk, safely tucked away in her dress.

She pulled it away and touched the eye of Wadjet at her throat. "Tell me what I'm supposed to do...someone please tell me if this is what I'm supposed to do."

No answers came: no visions of the future, no offerings of clarity, nothing to assure this decision was the right choice.

Her shaking hand fell away, defeated, and she steadied herself against the palette.

_Don't give up._

She gasped, pressing her palm against the rock. A sudden brightness flooded her eyes accompanied by a voice so deep and smooth and loving it enveloped her like a cloak of warmed velvet.

_Don't give up, _habibi...

The vision returned to her: the final duel, the Pharaoh, her brother, a sky swallowed by darkness, but then something else happened she didn't expect. The vision changed, shifted like it was moving forward...

The shadows gave way to clear blue skies and bright sun. She saw her brother standing by the sea looking as happy and innocent as he had before the tomb keeper's initiation. Beside him was a sweet-faced young man she, at first, did not recognize: soft skin, apple cheeks, outrageous hair in three bold colors, deep beautiful eyes and a smile that could shame a thousand suns.

Another vision showed the young man she'd seen as the Pharaoh dueling against a spunky blond youth, the fire of battle between them, their warriors spirits bright and carefree, the rivalry in their eyes born from mutual respect not malice. The Pharaoh appeared again, a serene, peaceful smile gracing a sleeping face as if darkness or danger had never touched his life. He slept wrapped on the arms of another young man whose face she could not see but the smile she could betrayed no emotion but love and longing.

Another showed them again a few years in the future: the Pharaoh, his chosen, her brother, and all the people they called friends seeing off their lone female companion at the airport, their futures as bright as their eyes and smiles. The next vision was many years in the future where she again saw the Pharaoh's chosen bouncing a babe in this lap. A babe with that same outrageous hair and her brother's lavender eyes. Running towards him was an older boy with Marik's tanned skin and platinum blond hair and sharp eyes but their color was darker, deeper...like his mother's. Studying all three of them as his older son climbed up his mother's back—her brother stood smiling looking happier and more content then she'd ever seen him.

Breathe caught in her throat as she saw, wandered through each memory until a final vision in the form of a girl came bouncing past her with a head full of golden waves cascading down her back that emphasized her Egyptian skin. She ran towards the waiting arms of a tall man, also blond, wearing the most outrageous purple trench coat she'd ever seen. He caught the girl ecstatically and whirled her in the air until her face met Ishizu's. She look her right in the eyes...her eyes: deep, dark, penetrating blue eyes that Ishizu saw every time she looked in a mirror—her mother's eyes, _her_ eyes, her _daughter's_ eyes.

She chanced a glance at the man who held her and a breath froze in her throat. Those pale blue eyes, that chiseled face, that small smile—something stirred in her heart as he looked at her, smiled at her. A smile of recognition and remembrance and regret and love.

The world came back to her with such sudden sharpness that she nearly stumbled in her shock, her hand did not falter from the stone. Collecting herself. She realized it was the "diaha" palette depicting the Pharaoh's battle she was leaning against. Slowly she pulled her hand away revealing the hieroglyphic engraving of the Dark Magician.

And just like that, she remembered.

Tears pricked her eyes Lightness washed over her, and all her previous doubts and anxiety vanished like dust washed away by a spring rain.

"Ms Ishizu," her bodyguard entered. "Mr Kaiba has just arrived."

"I will be right there," she said and dismissed him with a nod.

Casting one last glance at the stone mage, she smiled. Feeling lighter and more certain than she had in years, Ishizu squared her shoulders and, ironing her resolve, left to meet with Seto Kaiba.

* * *

I'm personally very proud of the memory scenes :)

I'll be honest, for a long time I was hit or miss with Ishizu, but as with most Yugioh characters, as the series progressed and her character developed she really grew on me, especially her relationship with Malik and her family.

As such, I also included the flashback scene from episode 60 where Ishizu confronts Malik just as her steals the Winged Dragon of Ra-I used the subtitled version because the dialogue made so much more sense (Marik was a lot less psychotic than the 4kids version seriously if you have not read the manga or watched the original subtitled Yugioh DO IT! Oh my god!)

I really liked how Marik's actions were motivated by his desire for freedom, for himself and his family, which made him a much more sympathetic and dynamic character in my opinion-and honesty given how many characters in his series have abusive parents/backgrounds and the level of shit these teens deal with, I would not be surprised if Takehashi created this series with the theme of childhood trauma in mind and the duels and tournaments are a metaphor for overcoming your past demons-literally (think about it Kaiba threw this whole tournament just to escape his stepfather's shadow)

By the way anyone wanna guess who the blonds were in Ishizu's vision, one was obvious, the second one...;)

Thanks for reading! Stayed tune for Intertwined Persistence of Memory and more Captive and the Cobra!


	9. Sunshine, Steel, Shadow

11 days since the last update...not bad but still not as soon as I would've liked. I'm personally very proud of this and the next chapter. I was very worried they would become filler chaps but they turned out to have tons of foreshadowing and drive forward the emotional part of the plot in ways i never expected!

I was listening to a lot of Yugioh Disney Themes that turned into listening to a lot of Music Videos about Marik which both brought a fresh new perspective to the trauma he went through and gave the story a lot more flavor in terms of some of my "evil plans" Mwahahahaha!

That said-I ended up creating a soundtrack for this chapter:

Falling Inside the Black-Skillet (Yugi and Yami's segment (combined both the manga scene of them leaving the hospital and Yugi and Yami's alone scene from episode 52, another episode 4Kids totally butchered for unknown reasons)

Be Prepared—Lion King, Jeremy Irons (For Kaiba's test of Obelisk 'enough said!)

Monster—Skillet (Marik's Nightmares-actually came from a random youtube video but just fit perfectly! God I love music!)

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh Duelist belongs to Kazuki Takehashi, these are his ideas and I confess most of the dialogue was taken from either the manga or the Japanese adaption, but the Character's emotional states are my elaboration)

That said...anyone wanna dissect the title ;)

SPECIAL SHOUT OUT FOR YESTERDAYMAYBE! For being an awesome friend and fellow dark/librashipper! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRL!

* * *

Sunshine, Steel, Shadow

"I'll be out of here before noon!" Yugi cheered with a bright, beaming smile and leaned back, hands gripping the railing and taking in the warm late spring air. "First I'll stop by school for a bit, then this afternoon I promised to hang out with Jounouchi!" He couldn't stop giggling.

_You're in a surprisingly good mood,_ Yami teased, arms crossed, his own stance opposite Yugi's. _For someone who has at least a week's work of school work waiting for him_.

Yugi snorted. "Actually, grandpa took care of that for me. Being in the hospital 'cause you were caught in a burning building is a pretty good excuse to not have to make up any work. So Ha!"

After four days in recovery and nearly a week in the hospital, Yugi was ecstatic to finally be given a clean bill of health and permission to leave his room while waiting for his friends and grandfather to check him out. The sunlight felt wonderful on his skin even through his uniform—he didn't even mind that it was all he had to wear, he was so sick of pajamas. Below, the city of Domino stretched before him like a never ending tapestry of possibilities.

They stayed like that: enjoying the well-deserved peace and the time alone. And yet a tension hung heavy between them, not thick but there like a mist separating then by the thinnest of veils.

_Yugi…_ Yami broke the silence. _Thank you._

Yugi looked surprised. Then hesitated. "It was Jounouchi who saved me." He had been unconscious, of course, but he remembered his friend's voice, those familiar arms carrying him, the heat of fire on his skin and the cool rush of fresh air.

_We have good friends,_

"Yeah," Yugi agreed. His fingers spread nervously then curled in frustration. The question was heavy in his mouth, hesitant, desperate, not wanting to be asked, but ask it he must. "Other me…" he started unsure how else to start.

Yami's questioning eyes urged him to continue.

"Who are you really? I want to know?"

The curious lines of the spirit's expression fell into a neutral mask. _Why?_

"It's because…" Yugi hesitated, worried his lip. How did he explain? How did one ask a friend such questions knowing they knew so little about themselves? "Ryou's Millennium Ring personality said something like…" he paused, stomach sinking. " 'The one who solves the millennium puzzle will have the duty of awakening the King's memories'…are you…" He stopped again. Was it fair to ask his dark half this? "Are you…a king?"

And there it was.

He looked to his other self for an explanation, but Yami did not meet his eyes. His gaze was vacant as he stared out over the city, distant with longing and Yugi wondered if he was imagining looking out over another landscape from long ago.

Then the spirit sighed and closed his eyes. _I don't know anything. _It was a whisper so low and sad that Yugi almost did not hear it. And for someone like his other half who did everything big, everything wild, everything in some great grand spectacle: the sheer defeat of it was louder than any echo.

_I knew you'd ask me someday…I don't remember where I came from…where I belong or even my name…_

They had never spoken about it before…of who Yami was or where he'd come from. Who he was before he was…Yami. Their acknowledgement of each other had been gradual, confirmed only when it became impossible for Yugi to deny the other's existence any longer, and even then, they only met thanks to the Spirit of the Ring's twisted game. Pegasus has certainly hinted at something, but even his knowledge told them nothing they didn't already know—or didn't know. And even then it had been easier to simply push it away—to pretend to let go of the past and create new memories together. To acknowledge the puzzle as the precious treasure that brought them together and nothing more. Yugi had wished for a friend hadn't he? And Yami wished for freedom from the darkness he'd been trapped in. Was that Fate being kind or simply Irony being cruel? Or both.

All that had changed now.

From what Mr. Otogi had said—and his Grandfather had confirmed—the legend of the Puzzle, its power, the "spirit" within it, all of them spoke of something far greater than two young boys whose met under odd circumstances and formed a friendship.

Something that everyone seemed to know far more about than Yami did.

Something that Yugi knew, _knew_, no matter how much his friend denied or tried to hide it—bothered him terribly.

_I _do _know that my origins come from somewhere in ancient Egypt, and that I can exist _through_ you, when you wear the Millennium Puzzle, and that the Puzzle is one of six other items, but…that's all._

"I'm sorry." Yugi apologized immediately. His friend sounded so lost that Yugi regretted ever asking. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

If the Spirit heard him he gave no indication. His eyes were elsewhere. _There's a stone tablet in the Valley of the Kings where the puzzle and those six items will fit."_

"That's enough." Brushing aside his fears, Yugi smiled. "Let's change the subject."

But the Spirit was lost in his thoughts. _Maybe if I go there…_

"Enough!" Yugi shouted jumping up and whirling on him.

Stunned, Yami stepped backed, stared at his other self, and was surprised by the plethora of emotions he found there: regret, remembrance, adoration, love, grief, guilt…oh, so much guilt. Collecting himself, the spirit smiled and cupped Yugi's hands, looked into those eyes sparkling as if on the verge of tears.

Yugi returned his smile and gave an excited little hop. "Let's get going! We can meet Jounouchi at his place! Who cares if I'm out a little early? I'm sick of being in the hospital."

The sudden burst of enthusiasm might've fooled anyone else, but Yami knew better.

_Yugi_, he called commanding the boy to stop and poured all his emotion and honestly into his words. _I want to be with you forever…I don't care if I never find my memories!_

He stared at Yugi's back, hands clenched nervously at his sides. Waiting for a reaction, a response, something.

Yugi's shoulders shook, trembled, droplets suddenly hit the floor and when Yami appeared besides him he saw that Yugi was crying. "Me too…me too…forever."

He clenched the Puzzle lovingly in his hands and Yami felt the warmth radiating through it. "You can have my memories so…"

He felt Yami wrap his arms around his shoulders and relaxed into the embrace. He let his tears finish on their own and then smiled up at his dark self.

When something caught his attention, Yami smiled and gestured with his chin. _Look Yugi._

Yugi followed his gaze and laughed excitedly.

_Looks like our friends are early too._

And sure enough Anzu was already waving up at them. Jounouchi and Honda were engaged in another argument that was one insult away from coming to brawls. Ryou was smiling, looking as absent minded as ever and Ryuchi stood at Anzu's side looking half-nervous, and half-relieved to see him up and about.

Drying his tears, Yugi waved back and hopped down to go and greet them, giving Yami a nod as he vanished back into the puzzle.

But Yugi hadn't missed the sadness tugging at his friend's smile.

Alone now, he pulled the article from his pocket that his hospital roommate had been kind enough to let him keep and stared into the eyes of the beautiful exotic woman who wore around her neck what could only be a Millennium Item.

Ishizu Ishtar. Security General, Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiques.

He and Ryou had studied that article for hours after everyone left, but it gave little information on the mysterious woman outside her role and office. Even though his Father owned the museum, Ryou had no answers, either.

According to the article, the exhibit would focus on ancient games and their relationship to political battles from around the 18th Dynasty, its opening date two months away, just in time for the summer vacation. The feature was a special artifact depicting an ancient battle involving a powerful King whose name was currently unknown—that alone was striking, both boys knowing full well the importance and power of names in Ancient Egyptian culture. Your name was your identity, your personality, your being and soul, your shield from demons and darkness. To not have one…

He crushed the article, his thoughts immediately turning to Yami—the friend he would give anything not to lose.

_I can feel it. _He thought, pulling out his school book and carefully slipping the article between the pages. The charms of his bracelet twinkled with a soft chiming sound as his fingers brushed the page where _Khazamaa's latest gift was pressed between the pages: Starflower for strength, Goldenrod for courage, Dandelion for overcoming hardships._

_Overcome, Yugi clenched it __tight in his arms, pressed the flowers and their message __close to this heart. The comfort was small, but Yugi needed it._

_Something is about to happen…Something big._

_X X X_

"Main Computer System Activated."

The robotic voice echoed through the simulation chamber: a metal marvel of Kaibacorp technology. On the surface it was an enormous, windowless, enclosed room made entirely of metal with a single viewing box, but once the holographic receptors were activated it could become anything, any place, any one.

It was one of Seto's proudest creations.

The new duel disk system strapped to his arm, a perfected and much more durable and convenient version of its predecessor. He looked at it proudly.

It had been a tall order, perfecting a new model in time for the tournament, forcing him to call out of school for a few weeks and costing him several nights of precious sleep, but the end result was worth it. It would take at least another month to finalize all the details of his planned Battle City tournament—and give the Ishtar woman's exhibit time to build traction. His team had been less than excited about putting together an entire tournament in under three months, but in the end they'd swallowed their frustration like good employees and did their work and did it well. He, himself, had been the primary designer of the new duel disk system and now all the fruits his labor were about to bear flesh and seeds.

He'd designed it with only one thing in mind.

_Yugi_. The name was all he had, but the image that came to his mind was not the bright-eyed, sweet-faced boy he'd seen and known from school, but the sharp-eyed and sharp-featured presence with that annoying and alluring shit-eating smile he'd glimpsed only when he dueled him. Kaiba was not naïve, nor did he believe in Ishtar's nonsense about past lives and reincarnation, but he'd seen the subtle changes whenever he and Yugi dueled. They were small things at first: a difference in posture, a deeper alto in his voice, a radiant confidence that Yugi, the true Yugi, had never shown. There were other things too: physical differences that could've easily been overlooked as a trick of the light but not to someone like Seto Kaiba.

He didn't know who or what the "Yugi" he dueled was—a split personality of Yugi's, a part of Yugi himself that only appeared when he dueled, or (if he _did_ chose to entertain the Ishtar woman's fantasies) some separate entity all together.

He did not care.

_Yugi…You are the only duelist I recognize as a rival. Only you and I have true pride._

That very realization sent a thrill through him: firing his blood and filling him with excitement. The duel disk activated and the duel with the computer began. It would certainly be interesting to see how he did against his own ultimate power deck, equip with all three Blue Eyes White Dragons, but more than that…it was a test.

A test of his own resolve, his own strength, and his own weakness that he would overcome by facing himself…just as he had "rebuilt the puzzle of his life" after their last duel, when "Yugi" had faced all three of his Blue-Eyes, stared defeat—and him—right in the face and smirked.

_When the next generation of duel disks is perfected, Battle City will begin…for us!_ And there it was, the _true_ reason he'd agreed to the Ishtar woman's plan. _So _what _if that _was_ you on that ancient carving, it's just a rock to me. This is _my _era. I'm only interested in the enemy in front of me…_

He paused, the word enemy sitting uncomfortably in his throat. _Is that who you are, Yugi? Are you the embodiment of some ancient grudge? Do you still seek the lost honor of the past?_

Kaiba snorted, knowing only t0o well how stupid living or holding onto to _any_ part of the past was. He'd learned long ago, things such as grief and memory only led to suffering and pain. They were things that held you back and made you weak. How many times had he longed for those happy moment with his mother and father—only to wake up unwanted and unloved in the home of his relatives who coveted their inheritance and used it until there was nothing left? Dreamed of his warm house and warm bed only to awaken in that cold, dank crowded orphanage with Mokuba curled up close to him? How many times had he dreamed for, longed for, hoped to find himself in the loving embrace of his parents only to find himself trapped in _his_ clutches.

No, never again would the past hold him prisoner. Never again would he hold himself back from his destiny, or let the legacy of others command him like _his _had—even nearly costing him Mokuba.

_Twice. _

_Never_ again.

The past was past and he'd put it behind him. As much as he'd loved his parents and they him, they were gone and he had made peace with that. Even though that monster had left a long, deep mark upon him (and begrudged as he was to admit it, Seto _was _ grateful to Yugi, the Heart of the Cards and that "Other Yugi" for helping him overcome that bastard's influence), his stepfather was dead and gone, good riddance. And grateful as he was to this "Other Yugi", if he truly was intent to live in the past instead of owning his present, then perhaps he _was _Seto's enemy.

"Then…" Seto smirked, decided and drew his hand. "I will take the glory of the future!"

As three Blue-Eyes White Dragons stood viciously before him, his own deadliest possible attack suddenly turned against him, Seto, for the first time that duel, felt fear grip his heart.

He heard its pounding echo in his ears and with the repetitive bum-dum came a conjuration of another who'd once stood where he stood and faced down these three vicious creatures who were the ultimate representation of power.

_Yugi_, again his thoughts conjured the image of the young man he saw only in glimpses between duels. The boy whose alluring smirk and aloof energy even now in the face of hopelessness both haunted and inspired him._ When you faced down my three blue-eyes, you stood up to them without fear…you believed in your cards…you took the challenge with courage and you won!_

The memory of that victory, of "Yugi's" confident smirk and unwavering faith, and his own utter defeat: it sparked something alive inside of him.

The machine entered the battle phase—initiated multiple blue-eyes attack.

"I _will_ seize the future!" He activated Negate and when the battle phase ended—gambled everything on his next draw.

Obelisk rose from the depths of destruction: massive and monstrous, the embodiment of power and prestige like the very God of whom he was avatar. It devoured Seto's remaining monsters, utilizing their life force as fuel for its ultimate attack and Seto watched with triumphant glee as it _obliterated_ the three dragons _and_ his enemy's life points with such power that even his defeat at the hands of Yugi's Exodia was but a gleaming candle about to blow out in comparison. The great beasts that were once the embodiment of power and glory, _his _power and glory, vaporized into pieces with a single punch! What a beautiful metaphor it was—that the creatures who represented his old self should fall so spectacularly to the glorious might of his new monster, his new self: a God. _He_ now wielded a _God!_

Even the computer was unable to read the might and he watched with an intoxicating satisfaction that morphed into sheer and absolute delight as the computer overheated and shot-circuited under the superior might of his god to Mokuba's cheering from the viewers box!

And Gods _only_ chose the _worthy_.

Seto couldn't stop smirking, it was a miracle of his will that he did not laugh!

He didn't care that everything was electrifying around him, even after they shut down the simulations and recalled the computer duelist, even then Obelisk remained behind him, a testament to the God's power even beyond that of its card prison.

"Only two legendary gods remain." He stared at Obelisk for a long time, lust-driven by power and possibility. "No matter what enemy stands in my way I _will _find the two remaining Gods and I will make them mine!" A chuckle rose, bubbled in his throat, first a snicker, then a laugh then a full blown fit of mad laughter: triumphant and terrible. "And when that day comes, I will be the King of Duelists!"

He laughed again, already drunk on victory, deciding then and there, there would be no delays. Battle city would begin as soon as Domino High let out for the summer, one week after the Ishtar woman's trap was to work its magic, and plenty of time for "Yugi" to familiarize himself with both.

_Wait for me Yugi…_He _would_ fight Yugi again. Yugi or his other self, it did not matter and he did not care! He would face him. He would win. He would prove that only _he_ was worthy of being his one true rival…his one true _everything_.

And if this "other" Yugi was determined to live in the honor of the past, he chuckled. Well then, Seto would just _drag_ him into the future!

X X X

_Pain…._

_All he felt was pain…._

_So much pain…._

No…

_Darkness…it was all he saw…all he felt…_

_Darkness dragging him down, down into that dark, terrible place he'd escaped long ago._

No…Please, no…not there…

_He kicked, screamed, begged, pleaded._

Please…no…don't take me back there…please!

_He wept, fearfully as they dragged him down there, remorse etched into each and every line of their faces though there was nothing they could do. _

_And he remembered._

_Remembered darkness, candles glowing like mortuary saints, remembered as he was stripped and tied to the table with his back exposed like some gruesome, grizzly canvas for a monster._

Please stop! No…I don't want to remember this!

_But he did remember._

_And what he remembered…all he remembered…was pain._

_Pain…so fierce and angry, digging, clawing, cutting into his skin like some savage, evil beast was tearing him apart._

_Pain…fierce, furious burning pain, like his back had been set on fire and was burning uncontrollably until he was numb to anything else but the burning._

_Pain…horrible, awful, terrible pain, like a thousand needles piercing and shooting out of his body like some monster trapped beneath his skin was struggling savagely to escape him._

_Pain….long, never-ending unbearable pain that lasted for hours, _hours, _and he was there for each and every single second of it…praying for it to end…praying for death…for an end to this terrible suffering, but salvation never came. And long after it was over the pain remained, until it was all he had left._

_Pain…that hurt so much…it made him want to destroy himself._

_And then there was only Darkness…cold and cruel and always there._

_Surrounding him…_

_Suffocating him…_

_Laughing at him…._

_Laughter like some maniacal monster echoing and bouncing off the walls to drive him mad…_

_And just before the Darkness swallow him whole…_

_Warm arms catching him…driving back the darkness…soothing his pain..._

_Relief for the smallest of moments._

_But always there at the recesses of his mind was the Darkness…_

_Always there…_

_Always laughing…._

Marik shot up panting in his bed. Eyes darting and reaching desperately for a lamp until the room was flooded with electric light. Bright artificial light, not the sinister glow of candles. The windows and walls were that of Rishad's yacht and not the windowless stone walls so deep underground that shadows and darkness reigned.

He collapsed back against the bed, still shaking, still scared, almost as scared as he'd been that day six years ago…

The day when…

No! He shook his head. Desperate and determined to rid himself of the memories.

He wasn't in the tombs.

He was _here_. He was _safe. _He was_ out._

He got _out._

_He got out!_

He collapsed in relief at that realization. That _fact_. Drank it in until he felt sick with it and then drank in some more. He drank it in until he felt alive again.

Until he could breathe.

And whenever his fears started to consume him—he remembered Yugi, _his _Yugi, his Queen—and his mission: to free his Queen, his people and himself from the Darkness that _parasite_ had put them all in.

Yes…

He would _not _fail.

He drifted off to sleep with that revelation—his final thoughts of Yugi.

He didn't notice the Millennium Rod's stagnant glow on his night stand.

He didn't know that the souls inside, constantly at war, suddenly felt the shift in power that was the awakening of a God, the slow corruption of a vessel who was already failing his Divine Test, and the Threat of Fate that only comes when make a decision is made, snapping. Nor that one was despairing and the other could not stop laughing.

* * *

This was a very fun but very tense segment to write. Originally, Marik's segment was only meant to illustrate what was going on with tr Rod (foreshadowing there-anyone wanna guess ;)) but exploring some of my favorite Marik and Yami Marik youtube videos offered a fresh look on his childhood-including all the trauma that the Japanese edition expanded on and the English adaption cut for obvious reasons-though I wish they didn't. And, being very close to people who suffered from abuse and trauma in the past, believe me when I say it makes sense that even after six years it would still affect him.

This is why all of Yugioh's villains (well, the "good" ones or anti-heros) are awesome! Seriously, Kaiba, Otogi, Marik, even Bakura and Atem are characters who suffered from an intense level of trauma or child abuse (still in Jounouchi's case) and without that all these characters would not be half as sympathetic as they are. Especially Marik.

Anyway, it was just great to dig deep into the mindscape of two of my favorite characters (Marik and Seto) and explore their similarities and connections (via the Rod and others) and how they deal with their pasts traumas. I hope to dig deeper in to physiology of these characters and others in the future.

Until them...read, review, post comments, ask questions, post theories, and go nuts! I'm very curious to see what theories come out of this one ;)


	10. The Call of Memory

So this one was supposed to be updated a month ago but...I totally procrastinated it and I got very involved in the June Prompt Challenge with the plan to work on this if I hit any blanks, but i didn't hit any blanks.

Totally not complaining!

This one was tricky to write though...

Now, this takes place during episode 54 of the anime also known as the Flaming Dance Battle episode, which was actually pretty important in the context of the story...when i went back and read the manga i realized rather than a filler it was the catalyst for battle city, and i really wanted to focus on its important parts...

Particularly Anzu's ;) Seriously 4kids chopped her up worse than Kaiba, but the manga made her one of my favorite characters so I really wanted to illustrate the role she played in helping Yugi and Yami here...or rather giving Yami the confidence to face his past and follow is heart ;)

Enjoy!

* * *

**The Call of Memory**

_Who...am I...?_

_Where did I come from...?_

_And where should I go...?_

_I can feel it..._

_Something is coming..._

_Something is waiting for me in that museum. Something that knows the truth about my past..._

_The Millennium puzzle can feel it too..._

_But..._

_I don't _need_ to know the truth. Things are fine the way they are. I'm happy this way..._

_Is that not enough? _

It was the question he had been asking himself over and over again and yet the darkness for all its comforts had no answer.

_I don't know who I am , where I came from or what path I should take...but that's fine. I like things the way they are now. I don't want things to change..._

_But..._

_Am I..._

_Am I even allowed to have a choice?_

X X X

Yami was depressed.

Yugi could sense it though his Other Self did well to hide it. It was subtle things at first but ever since they'd come home from the hospital he began to notice the change and that had been over two months ago. Contentment it seemed didn't have the impact his Other Self was hoping it would . But beyond that Yugi knew, _knew_, it had less to do with what had happened and more to do with the fact despite all his Other Self's statements otherwise, he was just as curious about his loft past as Yugi was. They had not spoken about it since that day on the rooftop and Yugi knew the true reason his Dark was determined not to pursue it but Yugi knew eventually if he didn't it would only cause him greater sadness.

It hurt that Yami didn't want to talk about it though Yugi knew why. Despite everything Yami was happy with the way things were, he didn't want things to change and he was afraid searching for answers would do just that...change everything. The worst laser was he was right.

And yet...his misery was not a price Yugi was willing to pay.

"Hmmm...what looks good on me?" He pouted at his mirror self debating whether or not to keep the accessories. Had he always has so much black? It look good with all his bracelets, though. "This is hard."

_Why are you getting dressed up so early?_ Yami asked almost tired. Wasn't it Sunday? And hadn't Yugi finished all of his exams? He watched Yugi have a staring contest with his reflection and from the disgruntled point it looked like the reflection was winning.

"I'm meeting with Anzu today," Yugi said smiling.

_Oh,_Yami drew out the word with a sky, half-lidded smirk_. Like a date? What about your secret admirer? _The spirit chuckled then winked and offered Yugi a thumbs up. _I'm only teasing, good luck Aibou._

"Well..." to the Spirit's surprise Yugi had a smirk and a wink of his own. "It's not exactly _my_ date."

He just hoped Anzu could help.

She always had the best advice.

X X X

Anzu was nervous.

She could not for the life of herself explain why but she was.

It wasn't like she hasn't hung out with Yugi and his Spirit self before (though that particular memory last summer brought back some desperate behavior she wasn't exactly proud of).

She sighed. It all happened so fast, and Yugi sounded so...so sad when he'd asked. So worried. It made her wonder just how bad the spirit was feeling for Yugi to ask for her help.

She sighed again.

The puzzle had a mind. _Has_ a mind. She still couldn't believe she'd said that, let alone believed it, but it was true.

She'd figured it out that day in the hospital when she'd forced herself to come to terms with her own feelings.

It had been so much easier to believe that the spirit, the _Other_ Yugi, has always existed, always been there, had been part of Yugi. A split personality that was much more confident and suave and, now that she really thought about it, incredibly reckless. Yugi would never have taken on the gunman who held her hostage with only a lighter and a bottle of alcohol and for _very_ good reason.

Her friend had a front and a back, that's what she'd always thought.

Always believed.

But...was that just what she _wanted_ to believe?

Yugi has always referred to his other self like he was a separate person, not an alter ego. Always referred to him as a friend rather than a part of himself.

The fact that she'd once had a crush on them both still made her blush.

When she had told Yugi at Duelist Kingdom he was fine just the way he was and she meant it. She _still_ meant it.

But if the spirit was another person entirely, what did that mean for them? For him? For Yugi?

She sighed again, resolved herself. "You can do it Anzu! Get a grip!"

Then the spirit appeared.

X X X

"This is it." Marik told himself with unrelenting resolve. "I am finally going to introduce myself to my sweet Yugi." The thought made him giddy inside. He spotted Yugi racing by stopping just before his hiding spot.

Marik's heart almost stopped.

He swallowed and forced himself to breathe despite the overwhelming heat suddenly coursing through him. He couldn't stop grinning. "Okay, Marik get a grip, you can do this."

He was just about to step out when he saw a pretty shirt-haired brunette looking far more dressed up than what he suspected normal teenagers did. Marik stopped. He recognized her: saw her often with Yugi at their school, walking home. At the time he suspected nothing of it, but reading this woman's body language, the way Yugi was suddenly smiling.

Oh...

No...

Were they...

Was this...

Were they...

On...

A...

_Date_...!

Marik's entire universe shattered and the ground split open and swallowed him while until his entire universe was a black endless void of despair.

The fire of resolve resurrected him!

"No!" Marik declared. "I will not allow her to work her feminine wiles on my sweet angel's tender heart! I will not allow—"

"Huh!? Hey! Yugi! I'm not...you can't...this isn't a duel!"

Marik's bold declaration to universe was very rudely cut short by what sounded like someone very disgruntedly protesting their current position in the universe and mourning their inability to do something about it.

Marik whirled And was both relieved and horrified to find the Pharaoh standing in Yugi's place, shouting at the puzzle and looking panicked, and the dressed-up-for-a-date brunette suddenly looking flustered.

Marik's heart reanimated. _Oh thank the gods_, he all but collapsed in relief. _She's the Pharaoh's woman_.

It took all of one second to process that information. Marik became furious!

_How dare that disposable parasitic leech use his sweet angel's innocent body so frivolously_! He raged, fists clenched and cursing. He expelled all his angry emotions in one furious huff of air.

Damn it, there went _all_ of his careful planning! He ran a hand through his hair, resolves himself. Alright, time to regroup.

Battle city would be starting soon, then he would have plenty of chances to Court his beloved and show him the true nature of the pest his puzzle contained.

Still...

Marik stomped back to base, more determined than ever to vanquish that foolish, frivolous, false king.

X X X

The spirit stood apprehensively outside the museum, hesitating going inside.

_A clue to my past is in here. I want to know more about myself. I want to know where I should go...where I belong..._he clenched the puzzle tightly between his fingers, hesitating to take that last step. But if I stay, I can stay inside my partner's heart forever...he squeezed tighter wondering if Yugi could hear him. _Because that's what he wants to._

Anzu stood next to him, offered an encouraging smile and her earlier words returned to him giving him strength.

"I had to come here, but a part of me resisted that. I was afraid to find out." He flashed her a bright smile, his confidence returning. "But after seeing you today, I made up my mind."

Anzu smiled back and followed him into the museum.

X X X

"Well, it's about time you showed up," Bakura shook his head from the shadows. "Such a lazy King you are." He was just about to leave when the Millennium ring started glowing. It's two prongs pointing towards the museum, confirming what he'd suspected since Landlord and the brat first saw the article.

He grinned, his smile toothy with delight. "it won't be long now."

* * *

It is way too much fun writing Marik and Bakura XD


	11. Catalyst

IMPORTANT: THIS IS A DUEL UPDATE! DO NOT READ WITHOUT READING CHAPTER 10 FIRST!

Phew! These two chaps were originally meant to be one chapter but thought they came out shorter as a result, I feel like it works better ;)

So since I drew a complete and total blank with the latest June Prompt I decided to work on this since its long over do and also because it actually FIT the prompt XD Don't you just love it when stuff like that works out?

Disclaimer: Dialogue belongs to Kazuki Takeshashi (The manga was just way better for this particular section. I take no ownership of it)

Yu-Gi-Oh June Prompt Challenge

Week Three: Earth/Day 20: Prophecy

* * *

**Catalyst: Gathering the Players of Fate**

Yami stares at the image of his likeness in the stone tablet like he was seeing a ghost of himself from another plane. Vaguely he heard Anzu's shocked gasp "is that, Yugi?"

He barely heard her.

"This 3,000 year old Pharaoh...there's no doubt about it. This is me!"

Anzu gasped again, probably more shocked than he was. He can't even imagine what she's thinking. His own mind was a labyrinth of questions and overlapping thoughts with no answers but one was clear...the answer to the question that burned in his heart like a flickering ember that refused to burn out. "The soul of the lost king of ancient Egypt, trapped in the millennium puzzle for thousands of years...that is who I am."

He laughed then.

He couldn't help it.

It all sounded so...

So...

He snorted. "After all this time it's no wonder I've forgotten everything."

The humor was small but he needed it now that thousands of more questions with no answers filled his brain but none as disturbing as the other figure carved opposite himself in the stone. "It's him."

There was no mistaking Kaiba's face.

"We've been waiting for you, Yugi."

Yami skin around and immediately recognized the woman from the article Yugi had shown him. The woman in charge of the ancient Egypt exhibit. The person responsible for bringing this tablet, the first clue of his past, the catalyst to finding his lost memory, to Japan.

"I am Ishizu Ishtar. For a thousand years...I have protected a piece of the pharaoh's memories..."

It was then he saw the choker around her neck, or rather the Sennen eye at its heart. A Millennium item.

She continued as though reading his mind. "The Millennium Tauk grants the power to see into the near future. I knew you would visit..." a deliberate pause. Her eyes unflinching. "And I knew that a great battle will soon be waged in this town. I have seen it."

Yami's eyes widened at the words great battle. Something stirred in his chest making his heart pound: Expectation.

The woman nodded. "Yes. You came here yourself. You chose your fate. A fate of fighting...to regain your memory you must gather all seven Millennium items."

"Tell me one thing," Yami stood his ground confronting her. "You hold one of the seven items. So...are you my enemy?"

She shook her head. "It is true that the seven items have an evil intelligence inside them. However," another pause. "My Millennium think is no enemy of yours."

He stared at her. She was hiding something. Something important. He knew it.

A flicker of sadness flashed across her face gone before he could properly decipher it. "The enemy who will soon appear before you..." there was a hitch in her voice. "Is the one who possesses the last millennium item. And this battle..." She turned away making it clear this was all she was allowed to reveal. "Will be a battle to regain your lost memory."

_My memory._

Those two words echoed in Yami's mind like a stone dropped down a well.

X X X

"Anzu," the spirit broke the silence that had lingered since they left the museum.

Anzu blinked surprised.

The spirit looked sad and serious and resolved. "My partner doesn't know I came here today. Anzu..." he paused and she could see the struggle in his eyes. "Can you keep a secret?"

He didn't wait for her answer. "Don't tell him about Ishizu or about the stone slab."

"Sure," she said but in her mouth it was a question.

The spirit must've heard it because he continued "he knows what it means if I regain my memory...but I don't think he can accept that yet."

"You're right," Anzu frowned knowing full well just how deeply Yugi's affection for the spirit was. How deeply his loss would affect him. "But there will come a time when he will. Yugi's a tough kid."

"Yes," he agreed and pulled out the deck from Yugi's belt. He stared at it intently and Yugi wondered if he could see, feel the power of it. The power of their unity.

"He and I built this deck together. Half of it is the fruits of his soul. If I keep secrets from him, these cards won't trust me either. But when he understand who I truly am." He held the cards closer, as if to press them to his heart. "This deck will display its true power."

X X X

Seto Kaiba leaned out of his helicopter door, looking for all the world like an untouchable god as he locked eyes, not with Yugi, but the other Yugi who dueled him.

_Yugi...I knew you'd come._ That single confirmation fired his blood with an excitement so fierce he could almost call it giddy. _This battle will be the fight to decide our destiny_.

"In one week's time..." he announced to the world. "This town will become Battle City!"

To his absolute delight, the other Yugi didn't even flinch

Observing the whole debacle from the shadows, Bakura shook his head in disgust. "Why does that damn priest always have to make such an annoying spectacle."

He snorted again then smiled. "Oh well," he smiled a toothy smirk his eyes locked on the Pharaoh who met Kaiba's challenge with unflinching grace and resolve. Determination burning all around him in an unstoppable, untouchable flame. A warrior with the heart of a god. A true king.

It set Bakura's blood on fire.

"Now, it can finally begin. And once it does..."

His smirk curled, a delicious, indulgent chuckle that bubbles to a laugh.

Well...

Bakura always was a patient man.

"Battle city, huh?" Marik watches the festivities from the shadows though his Ghouls were already in place. Rushed stood besides them the two of them invisible among the plethora of duelists cheering and stroking Kaiba's ego.

"Yes, Master Marik. It seems duelists from all over the country have gathered already."

Marik listened But his gaze locked on the parasite who _still_ wore the flesh of his one true love, at Kaiba, the arrogant fool who was his sister's champion, though he had no idea what desperation made her choose him. The two who he would need to defeat to claim the title of king, to save his people from darkness and grant them their long denied and well-deserved freedom, to rescue the boy, who in only a short time had stolen his heart, from the devil who had brought this darkness upon them and who did not deserve the being of strength and courage and light and kindness that was Yugi.

He would not fail. "There's nothing more convenient than all your prey gathered in one place."

He would not fail.

**It's finally started.**

The wheels of fate have been set in motion.

_Yes, all the figures who will decide Fate have gathered here._

**Eight duelists, seven items, six souls, five gods, three God Cards, three Avatars, three rivals for the King's heart, two in the final fight...**

Two rivals for the Rod...

**Two fighting for that Boy's soul...**

_And only one can be chosen king._

That sounds like a children's song.

_So, sisters. Have you chosen your Avatars?_

**Not yet. That's the purpose of all this after all?**

A test to see whose worthy of the power of a God.

**It is not a decision to make lightly, after all.**

Of course not, after all...we're discussing the fate of everything...

_Yes, we won't be able to stop that _thing_ without them._

* * *

I want to tell you all to pay VERY close attention to the final passage (particularly how each one has a different subtxt ;) )

But that would be telling ;)

NOW WE CAN FINALLY START BATTLE CITY! FINALLY! THIS IS GONNA BE FUN!

MARIK IS GONNA GET SO MUCH CAMERA TIME!


	12. Fate Breaks the Dawn

Didn't expect to finish this one but I felt it was a tad over do :) Enjoy!

* * *

Fate Breaks the Dawn

Dawn broke over the city with the promise of beginnings both dark and deceptive. The fiery ecstasy of the sun's brightness brought with the flaming spirit of battle and destruction as well as exuberance and roaring embers.

It was no ordinary dawn.

Battles were about to be fought.

Catalysts were about to occur.

Changes that would alter fate and rewrite histories were set into motion.

The futures of kings and countries were about to be decided and reworked and the Fates were already eagerly setting up the boards, arranging their pieces and placing their bets on the winner and who would be the first to fall.

Gods watched with a sickening combination of desire and dread, nervousness and nerves.

All the while the key players took their positions upon the battle field...

All but one.

"Finished!" Yugi cheered with a shout of victory before the morning light peeking through the blinds distracted him. He pulled them down, content to let Yami swipe through and double check for any additions, and got a face full of sunlight. "Woah, it's morning already!"

"I can't believe we spent all night deciding whether or not to include that spell card," Yami matched his incredulous. He swiped up the deck they'd built together and lock it into its protective pouch strapped to their belt.

Looking at it brought a bittersweetness that left an awkward taste on his tongue. They'd built it together. It was a combination of their two hearts: Yugi's strength and spirit and Yami's determination and fire. He trusted those cards with his life and more importantly with his partner's.

They would never trust him fully if there was anything less than honesty between them.

He had wanted so much to spare his partner pain, to spare himself pain, to pretend for just a little longer that he could have both: the life he was growing to love and the life he had lost. A part of him still longed for both: that finding his memory; that discovering the truth wouldn't cost him what he'd gained. Hoped that he wouldn't have to choose between one and the other. It was the hope that drove him to compete in this tournament when had there been any other choice he would not have—no matter how much Kaiba threatened.

But if he was not honest with Yugi now, then he knew he would lose both.

"Yugi...Aibou, I must tell you something."

Yugi looked curious and listened.

Yami wanted to smile but kept his face stern. "For me, battle city isn't just another tournament. This time I'm fighting to find myself. I won't be able to do that without your help."

Yugi looked bewildered. Yami didn't blame him. He held up their deck. "No matter what happens I will have faith in this deck. Please, keep me words in your heart."

"Yup," Yugi nodded. His eyes told Yami he did not fully understand but he trusted him. "I know you would _never_ duel just to get rare cards. I know that better than anyone," he smiled. "I won't ask what you're fighting for or what you want but I'll go with you to find the answer."

Those meant more to the Pharaoh than anything else.

"Let's go."

And they snapped the deck around their waist.

Perhaps Yugi shouldn't have been surprised then, when he found a bright yellow flower shaped like a large daisy and a note waiting for him tucked into the shop door.

_Yellow Marquerile, I come soon._

_My Angel,_

_I apologize that this will be my last letter for some time, but fret not. I will also be entering the battle city tournament. I heard that you were entering and I am not surprised. There are many things I need to tell you, but now is not the time, but what you must know is this: my feelings for you have only grown stronger. I hope that each of my gifts has brought you happiness and made you smile for it is but a small piece of the joy you have brought me. Know that I will meet you during the event though I cannot predict as to when only that I will. I have waited too long from a far hoping to find the courage needed to meet you in person, to finally look into your eyes and tell you the depth of my feelings. I am no longer afraid. You give me courage, Yugi, and even if you do not feel the same way as I do..._

There was a pause in the writing, a sudden deep grove in the page like he had no idea what to say next or how to express the words and had erased many failed attempts in the journey to find the right one...

_I ask only for the chance to earn your heart as you have already done so mine. I wish you the best of luck in this tournament though I know you possess and skill, strength and spirit far greater than anything luck could ever hope to provide._

_I hope we can truly meet officially soon—Khazamaa_

A breath caught in Yugi'a throat before he could stop it. _Khazamaa_...was..._here_. He was going to be competing in Battle City with him? With Yugi? With the Pharaoh?

His heart started to pound and he quickly forced himself to calm down less Yami worry.

He shook his head.

He couldn't think of love and crushes now.

He had promised to help Yami find himself and damn it he would!

It did not stop him from rushing back up the stairs, tucking the note and flower between the pages of his book with all the others and snapping the charm bracelet around his wrists before finally leaving the house.

X X X

Battle city began in true _Kaiba_ fashion with the arrogant dolt's face appearing on the screen of the Domino City Plaza's skyscraper looking down over the crowd of duelist gathering in the clock yard like he was divine chosen king and they were insects unworthy of his physical presence.

The irony was not lost on him.

Nonetheless, the crowd of idiots cheered as the giant blink sporting the all too obvious KC emblem that must've been powered by Kaiba's ego announced the beginning of the tournament and sent them scattering like the insects they were...all except the Pharaoh and the Valentine woman whose body language made it clear she had no reason for such low-level behaviors. Nonetheless, she wished the Pharaoh luck with the promise of victory if they should meet again and flashed a fiery smirk that spoke of nothing sexual and all of sorority completion to prove it.

He just might start to like that woman.

It should've have surprised him that the Pharaoh would be the first one to duel and initiated it before the clock even struck.

He only caught glimpses of the conversation but from he gathered between the furious blond fireball also known Jonouchi (he didn't like reminding himself that he still owed the idiot) and the clearly-deranged sociopath drinking tea with a purple-so-dark-it-was-almost-black cape of all things around his shoulders (what was it with these idiots and capes? Did they think it made them look regal or something of that nonsense? Of course, only the Pharaoh could pull it off _he_ actually _was_ royal), the sociopath robbed Jonouchi of his Red-Eyes the night before (now that was just low, even for _him_) and the caped freak refused to let him duel for it back but was all too willing to duel the Pharaoh if it meant getting his hands on the Dark Magician he was so fond of (loyal to a fault that Mage even _he_ had to admit even if it was with a snort).

He shook his head.

Oh that poor, dumb bastard.

One look at those fierce, furious eyes, that snarl that showed teeth and fangs, those squares shoulders taunt not unlike a lion ready to pounce and tear its prey to pieces, and that all too visible fire, burning, literally raging all around him...

Oh ho, he knew _that_ look.

Too bad the idiot didn't seem to notice. Or care. Though he was smart enough to recognize and admire a fighting spirit when he saw one.

Poor dumb bastard had _no_ idea what he was getting himself into.

It was over in less than 20 minutes.

And even though it had set his own plans back a bit and he could feel the prongs pulling at the rope around his neck dragging him in the direction of the museum, it had been _so_ worth it to stick around and see the absolute _destroyed_ look on the man's face as in one turn the Pharaoh literally decimated his one strategy and the whole deck crumbled.

He swallows down a laugh, made a dash for the table the fool had been sitting at and slipped back to the crowd with all the skill and silence of his profession, leaving behind his offering for the king, a reward for defeating a lesser god.

He laughed the entire walk away.

Of course, only a King could destroy a god.

And only the Pharaoh could command Exodia.

X X X

The rare Hunter crumbled to the ground in surrender alongside his god. The holograms evaporated like mists from a broken spell.

It was over.

His strategy was destroyed.

He had no hope of winning.

Yami had won the first duel of Battle City and was one step closer to reaching the finals.

Jonouchi cheered beside him as Yami fishes his Red Eyes from the cards that had scattered when the piece of filth had fallen.

The Red Eyes Black Dragon had a bright glow in the sunlight as he held it up, as if reflecting her gratitude. Yami only smiled, about to return her to her rightful owner when something on the table where the Ghoul has sat, something he knew had not been there before the duel, caught his eye.

The Pharaoh found his resolve suddenly shaken once again.

For sitting on the table like it had been waiting to reward him for his victory, and just like all the others before it was a potted plant: this one a full bloom flower the color of pale lavender and whose combined spiked petals resembled a six pointed star, a gladiolus, planted in a blue vase of soil and growing so that it's spiky stem curled all around it bloomed a bright, uncultivated and uncivilized wild rose, all tied with the stringy roots of an Egyptian blue water lotus and written in crude script: Don't hold back, Pharaoh. And on the back their meanings:

Remembrance.

Pleasure and pain.

But was it a warning...

Or a promise.

That was when the fallen Rare Hunter started screaming.

* * *

Three guesses who Yami's "admirer" is ;) It was fun writing his POV in this way.

Originally I was going to jump right into Marik's introduction to The Pharaoh, but re-reading the manga put this idea in my head and i ran with it (plus it was impossible to ignore Yami's fiery (and i mean thee were literal flames) fury in the manga when he found out the ghoul had stolen Jonouchi's Red Eyes.

I may get another one up by this weekend, but I make no promises...


	13. Victory and Vengeance

The next chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea!

* * *

Victory and Vengeance

* * *

He clutched at his head as if in pain and screamed as the skin of his forehead swelled and protruded into an all too familiar shape of an eye.

Wadjet's eye, Yami recognized immediately.

"He's coming, he's coming!" The ghoul screamed but it was not a cry of pain.

It was fear.

His eyes bulged open in terror and through the haze of shaking and weeping he squeaked out the words "He's here...Lord Marik."

His arrival was like a summer storm: powerful and sudden but only to those misfortunate enough to be in its path. Yami felt it like a gust of wind though no one else did. Even Jounouchi looked more bewildered than alarmed like he was confronting a mad man—the worst thing was that he just might be.

The Rare Hunter's eyes rolled back in his head and when they looked up again they were vacant and empty like a doll's. The man's long gangly body hung flaccid: arms limp at his side, head lobbed foreword, shoulders lose, legs bent like they weren't supporting his weight but rather just hung there: the whole affect was that of a still, marionette held up by a puppeteer's strings. The reality of that image made the young king shudder.

Then the puppet did something truest awful: it spoke.

"Keh keh...are you Yugi? I've heard of you..." he spoke in a voice and with a manner that was not his own. "The man you faced was the weakest of my rare hunters. Rest assured their real strength is much stronger."

Disembodied but higher, honeyed sounding younger, more sinister, and thick with an accent Yami recognized for it spoke of hot desert suns and sandy dunes.

"Oh, did I surprise you?" The voice mocked. "The person you're talking to isn't the shell you see before you. I'm in a place a bit farther away..." the puppeteer bragged. Yami felt bile rise in the back of his throat when he referred to ghoul as a "shell", a coat to try on and throw away when it ceased to be useful. A skin to be shed and discarded. Jounouchi's microphone comparison sounded more humane.

"Who are you!" The pharaoh demanded in a voice hard with authoritative rage.

The puppeteer chuckled with the ghoul's lips. "I am Marik. Remember that."

Yami stood his ground, unyielding.

"And I know you 'Yugi'" the puppeteer, Marik, continued though there was something odd in the way he'd said Yugi's name, like he knew it did not belong to Yami himself, but had nothing else to call him. Just as quickly, the hesitance was gone and Marik boasted proudly, "Like you I was chosen by a Millennium item." An arrogant chuckle. "Taking over a person's mind, and controlling their speech and actions as if they were my own..." A deliberate pause. "That is the power of my Millennium Rod."

The Millennium Rod.

The seventh Millennium item.

The one Ishizu has warned him about.

There was no doubt in Yami's mind now. This man...this person...this Marik. He was the one Yami was destined to defeat.

X X X

A giddy sort of power rushed through Marik at the false King's furious, horror-struck face. The pride in knowing he'd emboldened that fear in the so-called all-powerful king—and the rage.

Those violet eyes burned crimson red as he bragged of his Rod's power and demonstrated it by making the fool dance like a marionette, almost surprised by the false Kong's reaction. It seemed out of character for a selfish, spoiled parasite to care for such a lowly life form. The Ghouls were not chosen for their moral character, rather for their immorals—it made it all the easier to dispose of them when their unscrupulous and disposable greed eventually failed them, the world a better place in their absence.

"Marik!" The bold King proclaimed, stepped forward, flames of determination blazing in his eyes and the air around him. "Why are you in this tournament?" He demanded with all the authority and order of one used to being obeyed. "Why are the Ghouls here?"

Marik didn't even flinch. Only snort. When he'd first glimpsed the man, who would be his rival he'd confessed to finding him a worthy opponent: his appearance, confidence, stature and manner all seeming to befit a king. Knowing now that he wore the skin of another, far better and worthier individual however, now Marik could not help but wonder how much of it was the Pharaoh himself, and how much was stolen from his beloved's far superior flesh and form.

Nevertheless, he chose to humor the brat's rant. It would be so easy to mock him that there was simply no sport on it, and Marik, despite his own less than moral character flaws, wanted to win in a fair battle.

A smile slit his face that he hoped the Pharaoh could see reflected on the puppet as he answered "to collect the God cards."

Oh, the satisfaction he felt seeing the shock and utter confusion on the false king's face.

It would be so easy to watch him flounder...

"According to the Ancient Egyptians, three stone slabs were said to possess the ultimate power: Slifer the Sky Dragon, the God of the Obelisk and the Sun Dragon Ra! The one who gathers all three cards and takes the title of King will be granted the Power of Darkness."

Recognition illuminated those eyes when he mentioned the title of king and the power of darkness. So, the fool king wasn't completely ignorant after all. Marik grinned, he always did enjoy a challenge.

He let all his confidence and certainty bleed into his next words "My Ghouls have already required two of the cards already. The one that remains is in the hands of someone in this town..."

Understanding fury flashed across the boy's face. His brows scrunched together in thought and his teeth grit in an obvious tell of frustration. He was pondering, Marik realized. Trying to fathom who possessed the third card but drawing no conclusions with the minuscule number of facts he possessed. And his dear sister thought this was the one destined to rule?

Marik only sneered.

His eyes fell on the Millennium puzzle resting peacefully against the fake king's chest. Thought of Yugi sleeping there, his innocent face breathing deeply as he dreamed completely unaware of what was transpiring and completely ignorant of the creature that had dug its way into his body and infested his souls with a trust born from false promises and pretty lies.

More determined than ever to free his beloved, he gestured to the stolen card and handed the Pharaoh the fool's locator card but not without a warning that he was the weakest of the Ghouls. Marik was anything if not honorable.

"Yugi," he sank the warning into the name. He despised calling this parasite by his beloved's treasures name, but he refused to acknowledge him as King. "The game has just begun. Already a rare hunter with a god card is lurking in your town. If you meet him, even with your skills...it'll be instant death!"

Marik launched himself into his laughter, expecting to see the coward rattled or even intimidated.

Anything but what he did do: he smirked.

Those bold, fiery eyes were not those of his gentle beloved nor was the smile that twisted and curled into a smirk. "We'll see about that," he bragged all fearless confidence. "I'm going to put an end to your plan." He took a firm stance, his lips unfurling to a hard line of fierceness and determination. "Listen Marik!" His tone commanded authority. "Even if your Rare Hunters attack me with the God cards, you can't stop me! I can't lose!"

Then, teeth bared, he pointed one finger through Marik's puppet and at Marik himself.

One finger, a curse and a damning.

A promise.

"I will defeat you, Marik."

Marik matches his declaration with a crocodile's grin. "I look forward to it."

And he relinquished control.

X X X

The man slumped forward unconscious like a puppet with its strings cut. Jounouchi confirmed it with a tap to the guy's shoulder with his foot.

Yami wasn't listening. His expression was elsewhere, vacant. He cast his eyes skyward but the heavens offered no answer. Marik's words rose up like shadows and Yami felt them stirring, like ghosts in the grave of his soul.

The title of King.

The Power of Darkness.

The three God cards.

Marik...

The owner of the Millennium Rod.

The man who had two of the three God cards.

But who could have the third?

That was the question that burned him, but one thing was clear: he needed to find those cards.

"And with luck, over the course of this tournament, I'll recover my lost memories..." he clenched his fist, resolute. "They're hiding somewhere in this city...the Rare Hunters ...and Marik controls them from the shadows. I don't know who he or what his goal is...are they waiting to ambush me in this steel-gray maze?"

He cast his gaze skyward, empowered. Smirked. "Just you wait Marik, I will be the one to ambush you! Marik, your Millennium Rod summoned me to battle, but I will crush the Ghouls...permanently!"

The Red-Eyes Black Dragon burned in his opposite hand, reminding him of her presence. He smiled and turned to his friend returning the card.

But Jounouchi did not take it.

X X X

Marik breathed out deeply as he relinquished the Rod's control.

He hid his exhaustion well—he'd always hidden it well.

Even when it nearly killed him.

Rishid knew that better than anyone.

His followers purposely waited until Marik had steadied his breathing before announcing their arrival arrival. Rishad remained in the shadows: always close, always listening.

"So…you have identified the owner of Obelisk." It wasn't a question.

"Yes, Lord Marik. Domino City, North Block C. The owner of the God of Obelisk is..." the man paused, deliberately. "Seto Kaiba."

A chuckle. Marik didn't even look surprised. "I should have known."

"But Lord Marik...how did Kaiba get his hands on the card?"

That was what he wanted to know.

Marik smirked, arrogant and all-knowing, and nothing like the sweet sibling Rishad had once adored. "I can imagine...he hosted this tournament because he got his hands on Obelisk. His whole purpose is to unify the gods...but he's just a puppet and only one person could've put the idea in his head."

Rishad's eyes widened, realization struck like fireworks and crashed against the utter impossibility of the truth.

No, surely not her. Not when she was just as loyal to the clan as Marik and himself and...

"I told you, Rishad." Marik whispered, a silent smirk to the darkness. "This stinks of our sister's scheming."

So, it was Ishizu, he thought with dull resignation. "But...why?" He could not fathom any possible reason how or why the young woman he'd called sister, the sweet, strong-willed girl Marik had adoringly called older sister as a child, the prophetess who dutifully possessed the Millennium Taunk could ever make such an uncalculated risk.

Kaiba's role in all of this was uncertain at best, his obsession for power and victory clouded his judgement now just as it had in his past life. It did not surprise Rishad the Rod has chosen his brother, even if it was thieved at the hands of...that other...it was Marik who it had chosen. Marik who it trusted. Marik who had the ambition, determination, and righteousness to accomplish all he set out to accomplish (be it his goal of freeing his clan and the world of pain—or winning the love of this boy who'd stolen his heart). Already reports showed Kaiba was favoring Obelisk in his dukes instead of his trademark Blue Eyes White Dragons.

Yet Ishizu has chosen him?

Rishad could not understand it.

"She must have sensed a possible future," Marik answered. "She knew that if she gave Obelisk to Seto Kaiba he would hold a tournament like this. And she knew that by the Gods' guidance, my fate and the Pharaoh's would intersect."

And the Pharaoh's host. Rishad realized seeing the sparkle in Marik's eyes—a light that had nothing to do with victory or vengeance.

Then vicious determination hardened those lavender eyes to amethysts. "But it does not matter. In the end, the God cards will come together in my hands along with the title of King..." a smile slid into place, a true smile, one Rishad had not seen since he was a small child who still had hope. "With Yugi as my Queen." He finished that particular statement with a romantic sigh.

It almost made Rishad smile.

"Kaiba is still in North Block. Shall I assemble the rare hunters to attack him?" Someone asked.

That confident, calculating smirk returned glittering with triumphant glee. "Kaiba is an extraordinary duel monsters player. Even the Rare Hunters will have a hard time now that he possesses Obelisk...to fight a God you need a God."

All around them, the Rare Hunters, gasped, horrified. Rishad did not flinch. "You...you wouldn't!"

Marik cut them off, eyes blazing with all regularity of a true king "I, who wield the Sun Dragon Ra will personally go to Domino City."

"But my Lord," Someone protested "must you dirty your hands?"

"Eventually I will have to fight Kaiba, but now that we know he has Obelisk, we can let him be for a while. He may even prove to be if use to us. Put somebody on Kaiba and do not lose him." He commanded with all the authority of a king. "Before that there is someone in Domino city who can entertain me."

They gasped. Rishad knew why and flinched for the first time. Entertain. It was a word Marik only ever used when he was filled with hatred. And only he knew just how deep that hatred ran. Who it was reserved for...and who it was not. That thought made Rishad nervous. He'd seen Marik's crush on the King's host quickly growing into affection. Surely, he would not risk the vessel in his quest for victory?

"You," he commanded with a single shift of his eyes "Where is Yugi at the moment?" The Rare Hunters scrambled to obey even as confusion was evident on their faces. Marik absorbed the information, his calculating gaze bright with pride.

"I see...there's only one place he could be going...Call Pandora and tell him to prepare for a duel."

And with that order Marik rose from his throne, Rod in hand and left the room. Rishad knew his stride: sure-footed, long-legged, his every step a command, his every movement a display of power, of force, as if commanding the universe to coincide with his desires. It was the stride of a man who had lost everything and had nothing left to lose.

Except...Rishad thought with a sudden clarity, reaching up to touch the scars etched into his face, specifically carved hieroglyphics that when together etched into a spell. A spell entrusted specifically to him for the protection of the one he'd come to love above all else, from the one whom he had loved most.

Except for Yugi.

X X X

The room was a temple, an alter designed and structured to the last detail in a matter befitting a god. No expanse had been spared in its honor. In the heart of the room was a glass cabinet made of gold engraved with Wadjet's eye. It was in this casket that the God of Ra slept.

Marik approached the creature with a mixture of respect and reverence, dignity and desire, victorious duty and lustful vengeance.

The card was light in his hands: a sign that, however he'd come to acquire it, the God was his, had chosen him. For this creature was the soul of a Pharaoh, the guardian beast of their forefathers and protector and guardian of all their descendants.

He thought of the false king when he looked at it, it's golden radiance reminding him nothing of the ruby-eyed young man whose essence of darkness and flame suited another favored God of the Kings but not the one of light and life, of the golden sun and the fertile black earth of the delta, but one known for his savagery and strength, of shadowy darkness and preference for fire and flame, of the dark bloody red sands of the vacant desert and the howling darkness of sudden storms.

He thought momentarily of Slifer, safe in the hands of his most loyal puppet and shook his head of the idea.

That interloper was no king, but a charlatan, a parasite, a usurper, a murderer, a spoiled, selfish creature who had imprisoned generations of his family to a life of enslavement, of blind obedience, of pain and darkness and death.

He pulled down his hood, suddenly feeling claustrophobic. His sandy gold mane spilling free. The purple robe slipped down his shoulders and off his back revealing the secret he kept hidden from the world: the true inheritance of the tomb keepers, the birthright of their ancient promise, the reward for their unwavering loyalty to this false king—the scars upon his back.

The perfect copy of the ancient scriptures that once existed upon a stone tablet, carved and etched into his skin down to the last and most gruesomely intricate detail.

Drawn in blood and flesh by the blade now concealed within the Millennium Rod.

Put there in place by his Father's own hand, just as it has been done to him.

An honor. The man had called it, not a cage but a fucking honor. A blessing, a purpose, a gift, a birthright. Those were the words he'd used. Those were the lies he'd drilled into his head as sharply and mercilessly as the blade had dug into his skin: how lucky Marik was to be chosen. How lucky he was to be a servant, to be a slave. How honorable it was to sacrifice his life in service to the Gods and their descendent as if Marik himself had made the choice—as if he'd had a choice. How grateful he should feel being chosen and heir to such an honor while all Marik felt was pain and he couldn't even cry out because his mouth had been gagged and when it was over the pain was so intense he'd feared he truly would die from it—as has been his greatest and most crippling fear as a child.

To this day he did not know how he'd survived.

Even now the scars ached and tingled with a phantom pain.

But he'd learned something that day: he'd learned who to hate.

He'd learned who was responsible for all his suffering and that of those he loved. Who was responsible for the their imprisonment.

Who was responsible for their enslavement and the pain he felt.

Who'd forced them into this way of life without any choice or hope.

Who was responsible for the madness and violence that had overtaken his father who'd always been a kind, loving man before this.

Who had stolen the everything from him and didn't even care!

Who'd had the audacity to smirk at him with those burning eyes and all too self-assured smile like this was all some stupid game and had dragged his beloved into his corrupted mess.

And now that same unworthy creature was trying to steal something else precious from him: someone more precious and purer than anyone or any being Marik had ever met or thought possible to be. Someone whose pure heart and purer soul awakened something in Marik he'd long thought was dead, and had not felt since that dark day all those years ago…

Light.

Love.

Life.

Hope.

"Yugi," the word was a precious prayer in his heart and mouth: sacred and grateful.

"I must take care of you both with my own hands."

He met the eyes of Ra, asking for its blessing and felt the power in his hands. A tingling like fire and lighting galvanizing his blood and bones with a determination more fierce than the fires of a thousand suns.

"I swear by these scars in my flesh, the scars of hatred, I will defeat that parasite and set you free."

His mind conjured the image of his sister, blinded by hope and visions of possibility and could not help but wonder if even now from the shadows, she was trying somehow, someway to save him. Save them both.

Ishizu had always cared too much, he'd known that the day of his tenth birthday when she'd spent it in her room praying for him and shedding the tears he, himself, had been forbidden.

It was always her greatest weakness.

"I'm sorry, sister. But I cannot forgive him."

The Usurper.

The Parasite.

The creature corrupting and using his beloved Yugi body and soul.

The man who killed their father.

* * *

Well this one took forever...I started it ages ago and ended up writing it in bit and piece until last night i FINALLY finished it! Man! It was hard giving this one enough distinction from the source materials, which was the main cause of the struggle-but give this is an experiment in perspective, I found it much easier once I switched the perspective of certain scenes (I'm personally very proud of Rishad's since he doesn't appear but you can just tell that he's there watching from the shadows, knowing so much more than anyone else-even Marik.

Re-reading the manga I also noticed something with Marik's intensity-I noticed that he uses Yugi's name when he means Yami and refers to Yugi as "the vessel" I think this confusion stemmed from the obvious fact that as Yami has no name, doesn't know is name and Marik wouldn't know and nickname Yugi gave him that he goes by, its safe to assume he would associate Yugi and Atem as the same person (and thus the "pharaoh" that murdered his father.

In the case of this fic however, he is acutely aware that Yami and Yugi are not the same person and his hatred and beef is with Yami but not Yugi himself (even in the manga he had nothing against Yugi personally, but as Yugi was determined to help Atem this led to him getting caught in the crossfire) I found this to be a very interesting twist.

Anyway, lots more foreshadowing hints ;) Enjoy!


	14. Promise Kept

three and a half months later...I actually had no idea if I was going to do this chapter or not despite it being one of my favorite duels, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to include the scene where Bakura goes to the museum in this chapter or the next one...

But on the drive home from work two days back I had an epiphany...  
And figured out how to connect the only two owners of the Ring...  
and i am VERY proud of how it came out!

Summery: In the early days of its history the Millennium Ring recognized only two Masters...

One a Mage. One a Thief. Two souls who hated each other but bound by a single ancient promise...

* * *

Promise Kept

The Dark Magician that materialized out of the computer screen was not the faithful purple-clad companion who was Yami and Yugi's favorite card: if the blood red armor and shock of white hair were not distinction enough, it sported an ugly, arrogant snarl that their loyal friend would never wear. It spoke imperially of itself and its Master, unhumbly named Pandora the Conjurer of their fated duel, a fight for the title of Master Magician.

Yami smirked, unimpressed. "Stop this petty trick and come out…Rare Hunter."

The man appeared from the shadows with all the flamboyant flare of a Ringmaster and the costume of some haunted carnival jester: his face shrouded by a mask.

Yami only grinned, shuffled his deck and without doubt or hesitation drew his most loyal card—the card that had chosen him.

Without being summoned, the faithful Dark Magician appeared at his master and friend's side—a specter without need of illusions or holograms.

"I will fight you," Yami declared boldly, the fire of battle blazing hotly in his red eyes while his magical companion looked on, bright blue eyes like two glittering stars sparkling proudly. "Magician vs. Magician."

The room Pandora insisted they Duel was like a Gothic Circus or something out of a nightmare: occult tools, magician prompts, faceless marionettes hanging from the wall like bluebeard's wives, and a magician's circle and star in the heart of the table. Yami kept his guard as the Conjurer walked around the table. Watched, distastefully as Pandora shotgun shuffled his cards. They placed the shuffled decks on the table, prepared their duel disks. The conjurer had not stopped smirking.

Too late Yami saw the chain.

"A Nightmare show!" Pandora cackled, mad with victorious laughter. "With _you _as the star!"

Yami barely had time to react when the ground split open and something cold and metallic snapped around his ankles, pinning the fabric of jeans and boots to his skin. Staring down in surprise he noticed the thick manacles pinning him in place—the same around Pandora's—each with a small opening in the shape of a key.

Before he could ponder what that meant, a menacing humming sound whirred sickeningly to life with the promise to slice and devour whatever it touched. Yami shot to the sound and his stomach sank. "It can't be!"

"That's right! A 100-tooth carbide tipped blade, just like they used to saw women in half!" Pandora bragged, sounding just as insane as this situation was.

It did not take Yami long to notice the numbers next to the saw, to figure out _exactly _what would happen when the number hit zero—a Nightmare Game. That's what this was: a roulette to decide who wins and who died: the winner received the key and their freedom, the loser was left to bleed to death.

"Pandora!" Yami snapped, furious. This body may not have been his, but he would be _damned _to the darkness he feared if he allowed Yugi's body to be hurt for such a stupid reason. "You're _insane _!"

The maniacal laughter in response merely confirmed Yami's accusation.

"In Greek Mythology," Pandora explained, gesturing to the box-like room with its occult symbols, horror movie contraptions, illusionist tricks and horror movie memorabilia. "Pandora's Box was created by the Gods to contain all the misfortune in the world. But when a woman named Pandora opened it, all the Evil escaped bringing suffering and pain. But one thing remained in the box…Hope." The mad Magician pointed to the Box between his manacled ankles, identical to the one Yami saw beneath him—confirmed his suspicions. The only way to escape was for someone to _die _.

And _that _made Yami _furious _.

"Is this fun to you…" he demanded through clenched teeth, nails digging into the flesh of his fisted palms. The tone, so low, so dangerous that the mad jester stopped laughing.

Shaking with fury Yami shot up, red eyes blazed and glaring. "A battle that _kills _people." His voice was dangerously calm, his mouth tight. "I'm asking you, is it _fun _?"

Pandora met his fury with a smile full of flamboyant arrogance. "Why yes," he said, theatrically. "Because I'm the one who will win."

"You filthy scum…" Rage rolled off him, in furious, flaming waves. Resolve firing his blood and igniting his determination, Yami met the man's smirk with a dark declaration of his own. "Then I'll take you to the very edge of your life!"

With those words: a promise and a damnation, Yami began their duel. He took the first turn, studied the smug, expectant look on Pandora's face. Smirked when it dissolved into horrified shock when his spell card destroyed his first hands, confirming the spirit's suspicions. Felt a giddy sense of pride when his second magic card took control of Pandora's only monster. Savored the absolute horror on the ghoul's face as he sacrificed them forth and summoned forth _his _Dark Magician.

Felt a humble sense of pride and loyalty as the faithful mage appeared in a spiral swirl of purple and violet light as if conjuring himself from the shadows, his long scepter extended not to attack, but to defend. Watched with an all too familiar sense of affection as the sorcerer leapt into position and delivered its killing blow and Pandora screamed.

When the Magician levitated back down, he took his position at his friend's side, and Yami saw the way the monster look at him: the warmth and the pride glowing in those star blue eyes, the brightness of that smile, and affection Yami knew was no hologram or illusion. No, _this _card, _this _Dark Magician, though there may be hundreds of others in the world, was _his. _Chose _him. _Was his _friend. _Even if Yami could not fully remember him, the feeling was there, the same warmth and affection and friendship he felt for Yugi and Jonouchi and Honda and Anzu and Otogi and Ryou was there and yet it was somehow older, deeper, stronger…

It warmed the spirit's phantom Heart.

And nothing and no one, _especially not _this heartless, careless, card-cutting creep Pandora was going to take his oldest and dearest friend away from him.

Said Man screamed as the saw slid closer to him like the mouth of a monster inching ever closer to take a bite out of his flesh.

Yami felt no pity for him.

"Are you surprised, Pandora!" Yami shouted, letting all his rage and disgust bleed into his voice. "You _shaved _your cards and tried to cheat me!" he spat that word with all the vileness of the act itself. "I'll teach you how your cards feel when you _cut them up _!"

The saw stopped and Pandora stopped screaming, and for a moment he did not look like the insane Conjurer—he looked like a weak-willed and terrified man.

Yami could not stop the pity that arose in his heart.

In the end, it seemed, his inner goodness was too strong and his anger reluctantly receded. "If you wish to surrender," he offered, voice calm and earnest. "Now is the time."

Pandora only laughed: a malicious maniacal cackle seemingly invigorated by the passion and fission the taste of death had awoken inside of him.

Yami only sighed, disappointed—then felt the Dark Magician's phantom hand on his shoulder.

_You tried _. Those warm eyes seemed to whisper. _That is more than enough _.

Yami nodded and returned his focus to the duel.

Beside him, the faithful Dark Magician glared at the creature snickering before him. Glared right through him as if to see into the eyes of the puppeteer who commanded his strings, vowing _I _will _protect you, Master. I will not fail my ancient promise. _

X

Ishizu stared at the stone tablet that bore the predicted future even she could not yet see. "The wheels of fate are in motion," she said to no one, the words barely a whisper as she fiddled with her necklace, hoping, paying for some kind of clue.

It would not be long now, she knew. Soon, he brother would face off against the Pharaoh and when that happened…her hands shook, long fingers flexed and spread in anxious frustration.

_He can still be saved. There is still goodness in him. _

The words were not a chant or a prayer but a truth.

_But…to be saved…he must fail… _And she knew her brother would rather _die _than fail in his quest for vengeance and freedom. Even if he were willing to compromise his vengeance on the honor of their ancestors' perpetual suffering, he would _never _submit his freedom. He would never go back to the tomes, to the darkness and accept his "duty"…

_Duty… _the word was a venom on her tongue and she wanted nothing more than to spit it. "Duty" was the word _he _had used to describe their servitude…a sacred duty, an honor, a privilege, one her younger brother should not only have been honored but _grateful _to have forced upon him.

The memory of it all made her sick with dread.

No…Marik would never surrender his freedom. Not again…not after what _he _did that night…and her biggest and worst regret was that she had been too young, too cowardly and, if she were being honest with herself, too desperate to please to stand up to _him _and stop what she knew her brother did not want, what _all _of them knew he did not want.

_She _had chosen this…the Millennium Ring was hers and she accepted the responsibility.

But Marik had not chosen this.

Marik had not wanted this.

He had only ever wanted freedom and life in the world beyond…a right denied him the moment he was born into the shadows.

Even now, Ishizu could not blame him for that…and yet if Marik failed…what would happen then.

Her fingers tightened and her heart clench and once more she found her eyes drifting towards the carved image of the Pharaoh's guardian—of the loyal armored clad mage who was the king's most loyal servant and most valiant protector. Swore she felt something stir in her heart: a prick, a spark, a hope, like her heart was a box containing all the world's misery and once opened, all those fears and doubts and insecurities were free, no longer a part of her flesh and body. No longer her blood and burden. Until only that single Hope remained.

A shudder of dread suddenly swept through her—both familiar and alien, as though someone, something was tugging at her throat…no…at her necklace.

X

All five of the rings prongs pointed towards the Domino Museum and Bakura grinned. "So the last two items have finally made their way to this city after all?" he snickered. "What luck!" The golden ring pulsed in his hands: glowing with an excited golden light white the prongs jingled and clicked. "You must continue to show me the way to this item, my ring." Bakura purred, stroking the item's ego. The shadows purred in response, eager to please.

Bakura granted its request and ascended the steps. "For soon all seven millennium items will belong to me."

He ignored the security and the exhibits: steadfastly following the Ring's instructions, its magic pulsating, growing stronger. He approached a staircase and took the steps, grin widening as the item's magic pulse louder. Yes…the energies were getting stronger now.

The item was close.

_Very _close.

The room he descended into was off Exhibit: loaded with artifacts and stone tablets, pilfered from tombs and temples of the ancient deserts. Bakura could have laughed at the irony. He'd spent his entire life robbing tombs and he was called a Thief and a Heathen. These modern bastards, desecrated ancient remains, burglarized kings and paupers alike of their furniture and riches, even tore apart their eternal resting places and to further spit on their ancestors and the cultures of old, displayed them for all the world to gawk at like the corpses of animals and butterflies on display—and they were called "archeologists'', "researchers", "respected scientists in the study of ancient cultures."

That time Bakura _did _laugh at the irony and then snorted in utter disgust.

He wondered what the princling would think if he saw all this…if he understood what it meant…what an _insult _it was.

It would probably break his heart.

The ring pulsed with such vigor that Bakura remembered at once why he was here—and then it dropped, limb and spent.

"What's this?" he demanded but the Ring had no answer. That meant only one thing. "The force has disappeared. Damn!"

He was about to leave when something caught his eye—and he gasped.

Though time and age had left its mark upon the stones, fading the once passionate colors to dull muddy browns and the precise lines of the carvings had worn and dulled, the images inscribed within that tablet blared to life with such vigor that Bakura could not ignore them.

He took long, tentative steps towards the stones: recognized the two great beasts fighting on either side, recognized _who _they fought for, studied the trinity of carvings above them and how they surrounded the all too familiar image of the millennium puzzle.

"It's been a while since I've seen these stone carvings…" his smirk curled, showing teeth. He scrutinized the images, recognized familiar figures and faces, and yet he could not recall this particular part of any past or prophecy. "Interesting…" he cackled his eyes fixated on the three Gods whose name he knew all too well. "Something about the ancient past that even I do not know about…or is this a prophecy of what is to come…"

He snorted, but could not hide his smile.

Beneath him his shadow curled, long and serpentine, for She two recognized the Three.

"I suppose you God couldn't make it, _too _easy for me, after all," he laughed. "What fun would _that _be?"

X

Ishizu listened and observed the young white-haired man from the shadows, recognizing easily another ancient spirit who occupied a sacred item—but who was he? And why was he here?

This...spirit…he had _some _knowledge of the ancient scriptures…but not all. For she knew, all too well, he brother sought a much greater power.

But then…who was his player, in this Game of Fate the Gods had decreed? The dice had already been cast, the bones read, so was he? A new player in the roulette for the Title of King? Possibly, he spoke so casually and confidently of collecting the seven millennium items, as if the power was already his and this crucial step was but a chore.

But he knows of the God Cards? He seemed to recognize their images clearly enough?

Or was he the Joke in this game of cards? A Wild Card? Some separate third party with their own agendas that had nothing to do with Fate or Destiny and did not care what they had already decided so long as he obtained his personal gain…if that were true, then he was _far _more dangerous that he appeared.

Chancing a look, she saw him once more staring at the tablet, but something stopped her.

His eyes…there was something about them, in hem, that was neither arrogance nor greed, but something…softer…warmer…affection? Surely not?

She watched as he lifted a long-fingered hand, ran the calloused fingers over a specific carving, the warm emotion radiating those dark eyes bright so in the artificial light they looked almost lavender.

She gasped.

It was the Pharaoh's carving.

And then his smirk returned—crass and devilish, so quickly she could almost believe she had imagined his earlier emotion, as she heard him snicker and snort. "Wait for me, Pharaoh." He snickered. "The game has just begun."

He pulled his hand away, and turned his harsh gaze towards the priest who opposed him—the priest whom Ishizu herself had confirmed was Seto Kaiba in a past life.

With a disgruntled snort the man snapped. "Don't fuck this up, Kaiba. Don't make me regret my choice…" He tilted his head, and Ishizu caught him staring at the Priest's divine beast. "Or make her sacrifice in vain."

He cast a final glance to the Guardian of the King, his face a mixture of emotions: reluctant respect, tumulus tolerance, begrudging friendship. "Keep your promise, Priest." It sounded more desperate than demanding, not a command but a plea—the plea of one willing to sacrifice life and pride for what he most desired. She watched as he squeezed the Millennium Ring tighter, then turned on his heels and left.

She collapsed in relief, then rose once more, resolved.

She knew what she had to do.

She was done waiting for Fate's permission to act.

X

Yami watched helplessly as chains suddenly ensnared his beloved Magician's arms, legs and torso dragging him backwards and crucifying him to an iron grid. Yami's shocked eyes locked with the concerned ones of his friend, pinned helplessly, his jaw right with worried rage.

Pandora cackled at his struggles. "Now your Dark Magician can only watch as his owner is tortured to _death _!" With that vicious declaration, the Red Magician attacked. Shockwave after shockwave of awful electricity energy ripped and tore at Yami's body all the while that monstrous saw lunged ever closer.

Yami could only scream.

And the Dark Magician could only watch.

And then Padora played _that _card. That horrible, awful spell that would vipass all of the Pharaoh's defences and strike his Master at his heart.

Ectoplasm-the Card that robbed a monster of its very soul and turned it into a weapon.

Both watched in horror as the poor doll's lifeforce was sucked unwillingly from its puppet-like body, its energy floating helplessly, almost reluctantly, in the air as Pandora laughed, cackling high and triumphant with the assurance of his victory. Laughed off the murder of his monsters, his slaves-that was the awful, ugly word that he used, and worse was that he meant it.

Yami studied the Red Magician's face, the look of shock, horror and then the terrible realization that gave way to what this truly was: a heartbreaking betrayal. Watched as the Doll's soul sank with the pitiful realization of one resigned to die.

"But if that's what it takes to win," Pandora snickered, without doubt or hesitation or pity or guilt. "Then it's a small price to pay."

With that, the doll's weaponized soul struck Yami through his heart and his knees buckled under the force of it: not the attack but the crippling, crushing weight of the Doll's anguish. Shock. Sadness. Horror. Pain. Grief. Betrayal. Each one was a knife that ripped at the young king' heart. The wails of the Doll's grief echoed louder than the humming of that terrible saw looming closer ever could. It stopped just at the 700 mark. Its teeth barely licking the hem of Yami's jeans.

All the while the Dark Magician watched. Eyes bright and wide with horror-and defiance.

Pandora roared with laughter as he prepared to sacrifice his Dark Magician next but not before scolding the King for his kindness, for his lack of ruthlessness...scolding him for "coddling" his _slaves _and earning their truth. Betrayal contorted the Red Magician's face.

"Of course," Pandora added. "Ectoplasm works on _both _sides of the field." he reminded and let the implication lie with that

Yami's glare burned, furious with disgust. The anger was a fire around him, and he growled, a lioness determined and willing to lay down her life to protect her pride and insulted that such a vile, loathsome being would even _suggest _he do something so despicable.

The Dark Magician's own heart sank. And his spirit roared.

Triumphantly, Pandora laughed "Now Dark Magician give your life so that I can win! Your master demands it!"

If Pandora saw the broken look on the Red Magician's face, he did not notice or did not care, but Yami did both. "Pandora…" Yami groaned, his voice rough with unshed tears. "Can you not hear your servant crying…"

Because he could hear every tear.

"Shut up!" Pandora snapped! "Now die!"

Yami closed his eyes as the white energy shot towards him ready to piece his heart in more ways than one and whispered a silent apology to Yugi who screamed defiantly inside his heart. _It's over _.

_NO! _

Yami's eyes shot open and he gasped just as a bright lavender and pale blue light above him illuminated his beloved friend. The Dark Magician's body spasmed, then suddenly went limp and lifeless upon his cross. His soul spiraling free of its body and spot with determined speed towards the red, damned soul of his counterpart, aimed straight for Yami. Yami gasped in horror and humility as the Dark Magician appeared before him, arms spread protectively, and intercepted the attack. In a blast of light the two magicians disappeared, and the Pharaoh was unharmed.

Pandora screamed, paralyzed by shock. "That's...that's..impossible."

_Dark Magician _….Yami's eyes stung with unshed tears. _You killed yourself to save me _.

_Don't give up, my Friend. _

Yami shot up, the voice so familiar and so warm...he recognized its echo from the graveyard. His heart clenched. His hands clenched, His fingers spread then curled in resolution. "Pandora!" He denounced, declared. "You cannot win with Ruthlessness, but don't worry. I will be ruthless to _you _."

X

The Dark Magic Curtain pulled away revealing the Dark Magician's Apprentice. The golden haired Dark Magician girl erupted from her card in an explosion of pink hearts and smirked a bubbly smirk and a saucy wink. She boldly faced the Red Magician, vanquished her foe to Pandora's bewildered panic.

Yami grinned as she attacked.

Behind her, the Dark Magician smirked, proudly at his beloved apprentice-and at the boy he'd adored so much in life. Dark Magician girl attacked Pandora directly, seizing victory for their King,

And in that moment, the Dark Magician remembered his name.

Looked through Pandora, beyond the slimy man, _beyond _Marik and into the eyes of the Puppeteer. _I know who you are _. His spectral glare silently snapped with the force of a thousand death promises. _I know _what _you are. And I will _never _allow you to have my Prince! _

X

Somewhere across the city, the Millennium Ring pulsed, warningly around Bakura's neck.

* * *

And this is my holiday gift to everyone!

I cannot believe how hard it was to find the scene where Bakura goes to the museum in Japanese subtitles...but it worked!  
Also little not: in the volume 12 manga where the Dark Magician and Dark Magician appear, the Dark Magician appears with blond hair, pale blue skin and very bright blue eyes...(in the anime he has purple hair) which connects him to the Dark Magician Girl...For this reason i made him blond in this chapter (and in the earlier chapter but i'll let all of you figure out which one)

Next chapter we will get Marik's POV during the whole duel and...let's just say he puts a few things together and isn't exactly happy that Pandora put his beloved's "body" in danger.


End file.
